Mahjong characters · 箭牌 jiàn pái

What are the three dragons in mahjong?

The three honour tiles are three ordinary words: 中 centre, 發 prosper, and a blank face called 白板, white board. Nothing dragon-like about them in Chinese — that name is an English invention.

Every face in this suit

On the tile	Called	Reading	What it is
中	红中	hóng zhōng	red dragon, 'centre' — Printed in red. The same 中 as 中国 — a character you already know, on a tile.
發	发财	fā cái	green dragon, 'get rich' — 发财 is a real wish: 恭喜发财 is what you say at New Year.
白	白板	bái bǎn	white dragon, 'blank board' — The face is blank — 白 is white, plain, blank. 白板 is also a whiteboard.

The characters, off the table

These are ordinary words. Each one is taught somewhere in an HSK course, and here is where:

Character	Reading	Meaning	Taught at
中	zhōng	centre, middle	地点与场所 · HSK 1
发	fā	to send out; to get rich (发财)	沟通交流 · HSK 4
白	bái	white, blank	颜色和外貌 · HSK 2

Save this suit as one card

The same faces as a single image, sized for a phone screen: tap it, then pick 9:16 for TikTok or Reels, 4:5 for a feed, or 1.91:1 for a link preview.

Play with the real tiles

The full set — all 34 faces, a dealt hand to read, a matching game, a 听牌 puzzle and the words spoken at the table — is on the main mahjong page. Tap any tile there for its reading, stroke order and the lesson that teaches it.

The other suits: Characters Dots Bamboo Winds · All the mahjong cards