How Scoring Works — Everything Counts
Taiwanese 16-tile scoring is gloriously additive: every combination your hand contains adds its points, and every winning hand starts with a Base Point of 5. Tables may set a minimum score to win (a common ladder: East round 20, South 22, West 24, North 26 — pre-game claims don't count toward it). Some payments happen immediately at the table (dice, bouquets, gongs, penalties) — those are listed in their sections and settle on the spot, not at hand scoring.
Breaking the Wall — Triple Dice
If the dealer rolls three of a kind while breaking the wall, everyone pays on the spot: Triple Dice 1-1-1 through 5-5-5 collects 5 points from each player; Triple Dice 6-6-6 collects 10.
Flowers — Petals and Payouts
Each Flower tile: 1 point. Flower of player's seat (matching your seat number): 1 more. No Flower Tiles at all: also 1 point — the game pays you either way. Mixed Set of Flowers (1-4 in mixed colours): collects 5 from each player immediately. Pure Set of Flowers (all one colour): collects 10 from each player. Pure Bouquet of 7 flowers: collects 10 from each player. 7-Flower Win (instant): 20 points. 8-Flower Win (instant): 40 points. Draw your Flower-Wall replacement to complete 17 tiles BEFORE declaring — forgetting is a False Mahjong.
Winds — From Breeze to Hurricane
Pong of Winds: 1 point each — plus 1 more for Pong of Winds (player's seat) and 1 more again for Pong of Winds (round wind). A seat-and-round wind pong totals 3. Little 3 Winds (two wind pongs + a wind pair): 15 points. Big 3 Winds (three wind pongs): 30 points. Little 4 Winds (three pongs + the fourth as the pair): 50 points. Big 4 Winds (all four wind pongs): 60 points.
Dragons — and the Pure Honor Throne
Pong of Dragons: 2 points each. Little Dragons (two dragon pongs + the third as the pair): 20 points. Big Dragons (all three dragon pongs): 40 points. Pure Honor Hand (every tile a wind or dragon): 140 points — and the Big/Little wind and dragon patterns inside it still score on top.
Absence Makes the Hand Grow Stronger
No Flower Tiles: 1 point. No Wind and Dragon tiles: 1 point. No Flower, Wind and Dragon tiles at all: 5 points. No Terminal Tiles (and no honors — every tile a 2 through 8): 5 points.
Gongs (Quads)
Open Gong: 1 point (and it counts as one concealed pong toward the pong tiers). Concealed Gong: collects 5 from each player immediately when declared, plus 2 points at hand scoring. Concealed Gong not shown by game end: pay 10 to each player. Robbing a Gong: 10 points — claim the tile someone is promoting to a gong to complete your win; the promoter pays. Win by Self-Drawing after a Gong: 30 points — gong, draw the replacement, win on it.
Sequential Pongs — Stairways of Triplets
Consecutive-number pongs in one suit: 2 Sequential Pongs: 5 points. 3 Sequential Pongs: 15 points. 4 Sequential Pongs: 30 points. 5 Sequential Pongs: 60 points. Sequential Pong Hand (5 sequential pongs plus a sequential pair — 111 222 333 444 555 + 66): 80 points.
Brother & Sister Sheungs, Sister Pongs
Brother Sheungs — the SAME run repeated in the SAME suit: 2 Sets of Brother Sheungs: 5 points. 3 Sets of Brother Sheungs: 15 points. 4 Sets of Brother Sheungs: 30 points. Sister Sheungs — the same run ACROSS suits (repeats allowed at the top tiers): 2 Sets of Sister Sheungs: 3 points. 3 Sets of Sister Sheungs (all three suits): 10 points. 4 Sets of Sister Sheungs: 25 points. 5 Sets of Sister Sheungs: 40 points. A SECOND independent group scores its own row on top — 1-2-3 in two suits AND 4-5-6 in two suits pays 3 + 3. The same goes for second sets of Sister Pongs, Brother Sheungs, Sequential Pongs, and a second Four-in-N-Ways rank. Sister Pongs — the same number punged across suits: 2 Sets of Sister Pongs: 5 points. 3 Sets of Sister Pongs: 15 points.
Concealed Pongs — Quiet Power
Pongs formed without claiming a discard. An Open Gong counts toward the tier (the pong was concealed before you gonged it). 2 Concealed Pongs: 5 points. 3 Concealed Pongs: 15 points. 4 Concealed Pongs: 30 points. 5 Concealed Pongs: 80 points. 5 Concealed Pongs with no open gong and a fully concealed hand: 100 points — purity's price, purity's prize.
Dragon Runs — 1 Through 9
The full ladder 1-2-3, 4-5-6, 7-8-9: Mixed Dragon (1-9 across suits): 5 points. Mixed Dragon, concealed: 10 points. Pure Dragon (1-9 same suit): 15 points. Pure Dragon, concealed: 20 points.
Terminals — Living on the Edge
Terminal Pong Set (a 111 pong AND a 999 pong in the same suit): 5 points. 2 Terminal Pong Sets (both suits complete): 20 points. Terminal Run Set (1-2-3 and 7-8-9 in the same suit): 5 points. 2 Terminal Run Sets (mixed suits): 15 points. 2 Terminal Run Sets (pure suit): 20 points. Terminals-only hand (with honors): 20 points — every set and the pair holds a 1, a 9 or an honor. Pongs AND sheungs count: 1-2-3 and 7-8-9 runs, 111/999 pongs, honor pongs, with an eye of 1s, 9s or honors. Terminals-only hand (no honors): 40 points — the same edge-hugging build with the honors stripped out. Every set is a 1-2-3 or 7-8-9 run or a 111/999 pong, and the eyes are 1s or 9s. The runs do not need to be the same suit.
Suits — From Two-Tone to Pure Silk
2-Suit Hand (two suits, no honors): 5 points. 2-Suit Hand (no flowers/honors): 15 points. Semi-Pure Hand (one suit + winds/dragons): 30 points. Pure Suit Hand (one suit, no honors): 90 points. All 5-Suit Hand (Characters, Bamboos, Circles, Winds and Dragons all present): 10 points. The Jewel Hands (20 points each) — one suit dressed in its matching dragon: Jade Hand (Green Dragons + Bamboo). Ruby Hand (Red Dragons + Characters). Diamond Hand (White Dragons + Circles). Sapphire Hand (White Dragons + Characters).
Hand Shapes — Runs, Pongs and Step Ups
All Sheung Hand (every set a run): 5 points. All Sheung Hand (no flowers/winds/dragons): 15 points. All Pong Hand (five pongs and a pair): 25 points. Step Up (3 stepping sheungs, each one number higher, any suits): 5 points. All Step Up (5 stepping sheungs): 20 points. All Step Up + sequential pair: 30 points. All Step Up — same suit + sequential pair: 90 points. Four in 2 ways: 5. Four in 3 ways: 15. Four in 4 ways: 20 — all four copies of one rank spread across that many different sets, no gong declared.
Eyes, Waits and Ding Ding
Elephant Eyes (a pair of 2s, 5s or 8s): 2 points. Calling by Pairs (waiting on either of two pairs — not scored in an All Pong hand): 2 points. True Single Wait (exactly one tile could win): 2 points. False Single Wait (a single-tile slot with other outs elsewhere): 2 points. Ding Ding / Calling (declared): 5 points — turn your hand face down when one tile from winning and declare. Your hand locks: draw-and-discard only, win-only claims.
The Winning Moment
Base Point: every winning hand starts at 5. Dealer wins or gives the winning tile: 1 point. Win by Self Draw: 1 point. Fully concealed hand: 5 points. Self-draw, fully concealed hand: 15 points. Fully Exposed Hand, win from the sea (all sets exposed, won on a discard): 15 points. Fully Exposed Hand, win from the wall (self-drawn): 10 points. Self-Draw from the Flower Wall: 5 points. Seabed Tile (the wall's very last tile): 20 points. Human Hand (win within 4 discards): 80 points. Win within 7 Discards: 50 points. Win within 10 Discards: 10 points. Heavenly Hand (dealer wins on the dealt hand): 100 points. Earthly Hand (win on the dealer's first discard): 90 points.
Dealer Streaks — Dice on the Wall
A winning dealer marks the streak with a die on the wall; win again and the streak pays: Dealer Streak — 1 on the dice: 3 points. Dealer Streak — 2 on the dice: 5 points. Dealer Streak — 3 on the dice: 7 points. Dealer Streak — 4 on the dice: 9 points. Dealer Streak — 5 on the dice: 11 points. Dealer Streak — 6 on the dice: 13 points. If the dealer instead discards the winning tile, the dealer pays the winner those same streak points.
Special Hands — Nico Nico
Nico Nico (seven pairs plus one pong, fully concealed): 40 points. Nico Nico with a Gong (all four copies of a rank held as two pairs, never declared): 50 points; two such gongs: 75. Nico Nico + 3 Sequential Pairs (22, 33, 44 in one suit): +5 points. Elephant Eyes still adds its +2. Nico Nico hands don't stack the standard concealed-hand points, and can't declare Ding Ding or Calling by Pairs.
Special Hands — The Orphans
13 Orphans (90 points): one of every terminal and honor — all 13 kinds — plus a duplicate of any of them for the eye, and one free pong or sheung of anything (plain tiles welcome), fully concealed. 16 Orphans (50 points): nine unrelated suit singles — three per suit, every two of them at least two numbers apart so none can ever join a run (1-4-7 is the classic teaching spread; 1-4-9, 1-5-9, 2-6-9 and the like all count, and the same numbers may repeat across suits) — plus one of every wind and dragon, fully concealed; the seventeenth tile pairs any of the sixteen. 16 Orphans — 1's and 9's in all suits (10 points): the spread that holds both the 1 and the 9 of every suit (say 1-4-9, 1-5-9, 1-6-9) collects 10 on top. Sheet bonuses (+5 sister sheungs, +2 good eyes) apply per the table. Orphan hands don't stack the standard concealed-hand points.
Chicken Hand — A Consolation with Style
Chicken Hand (20 points): if your winning hand scores next to nothing on its own merits, the table awards 20 before the base — even a chicken crosses the line sometimes.
Penalties — Play It Straight
False Mahjong (declaring a win that isn't one, or racking your winning tile before showing it): pay 25 points to each player; the hand ends. Chasing (honor tile): all four copies of the same honor discarded in one round — the first discarder pays 5 to each player. Chasing (suit tile): same with a suit tile, 10 to each. Incorrect tile count: play on, but you cannot win, collect flowers, or declare gongs. The table-payment switches (dice, bouquets, gong collections) live in the ruleset settings and travel with your table.
Sources & scope
This reference describes the rules implemented in Hé Fēn; an event’s own rulebook takes precedence at that event. Reference links checked 13 September 2026. We are not affiliated with these organisations.
- Taiwanese Club house sheet Hé Fēn Mahjong. The Hé Fēn club sheet’s point system and minimum to win, which differ from Taiwanese Classic.