[Contents]

Western Special Hands


This section illustrates the special hands recognized by Shanghai: Second Dynasty. There are many other special hands recognized by players around the world; we wanted to allow for the most widely recognized or most "logical" patterns. And we have also added one new special hand in recognition of the history of Hong Kong, which has been very important to the history of Mah-Jongg.

Special hands are used most widely in the Western game. The Chinese game recognizes a small number of special hands. In the West, some players require special hands - that is to say, a normal legal hand of chows and Pungs and a pair does not qualify for a win. When playing "special hands required," it is recommended to play with the Jokers (otherwise, most players believe that Jokers make the game too easy). Some players prefer to play without special hands. Most players allow their use and just award bonus points when one is attained.

The hands are shown here in their natural state (without Jokers).

By their very nature, many special hands must be concealed. It is not possible to meld (expose) a pair or a single "unconnected" tile during the course of play, and "knitted" Pungs or pairs also cannot be melded. Each of the hands below is marked as to whether it is Concealed or Exposed, and how much it earns.

Jewel Hands


To understand the "jewel" hands it is important to keep two concepts in mind. Firstly, the Bams suit is comprised of "green" tiles (2, 3, 4, 6, 8) and "red" tiles (1, 5, 7, and 9) - for the purposes of the Jewel hands, the other suits also are broken into identical groups.


The Green Bams (2, 3, 4, 6, 8) - The Red Bams (1, 5, 7, 9)

Secondly, in Western Mah-Jongg each suit is associated with a dragon. The Red Dragon is associated with the Craks (and, in the case of Ruby hands, with the Red Bams), the Green Dragon is associated with the Bams, and the White Dragon is associated with the Dots.



Red Dragon is associated with Craks ("Ruby").
Green Dragon is associated with Bams ("Jade").
White Dragon is associated with Dots ("Pearls")


Jade Hand
Exposed --- Limit
Pungs (or Kongs) and/or Chows of green Bams with a pair of Green Dragons.

Note: Some players require this hand to contain no more than one Chow, but Shanghai: Second Dynasty allows multiple Chows in the Jade Hand. Keep in mind that when you have multiple Chows concealed in the hand (the same hand as seen above), the sorting does not separate the Chows as seen above.

This is how a pair of 2-3-4 Chows would look when concealed in the hand.

Imperial Jade
Exposed --- Double Limit
(Also called: Jade Dragon)
Pungs or Kongs (may include no more than one Chow) of Green Dragons and Green Bams, with a pair of Green Bams.

Pearl Hand
Exposed --- Limit
Pungs or Kongs or chows of 2, 3, 4, 6, 8 of Dots, with a pair of White Dragons.

Pearl Dragon
Exposed --- Double Limit
Pungs or Kongs (may include no more than one Chow) of White Dragons and 2, 3, 4, 6, 8 Dots with a pair of Dots (those numbers only).

Ruby Hand
Exposed --- Limit
Pungs or Kongs of Red Bams with a pair of Red Dragons.

Imperial Ruby
Exposed --- Double Limit
(Also called: Royal Ruby)
Pungs or Kongs of Red Dragons and Red Bams, with a pair of Red Bams.

Ruby Jade
Exposed --- Limit
Pungs or Kongs of Red Dragons, Green Dragons, Red Bams, and Green Bams, with a pair of any Bams.

Ruby Crack
Exposed --- Limit
(Also called: Red Coral)
Pungs or Kongs (Chows allowed) of 2, 3, 4, 6, 8 Craks and Red Dragons. Pair of any of those particular tiles.

Pair Hands


Dirty Pairs
Concealed --- Half Limit
(Also called: Small Seven Pairs)
Seven pairs of anything.

Clean Pairs
Concealed --- Limit
Seven pairs in one suit (Winds or Dragons allowed).

All Pair Honors
Concealed --- Limit
Seven pairs of Terminals, Winds, and/or Dragons only.

All Pair Terminals
Concealed --- Limit
(Also called: Earthly Twins)
Seven pairs of Terminals only (Kong is counted as two pairs if fully concealed in the hand).

Honorable Twins
Concealed --- Limit
A pair of each Wind and each Dragon.

All Pair Jade
Concealed --- Limit
Pairs of Green Bams and Green Dragons (Kong is counted as two pairs if fully concealed in the hand).

All Pair Ruby
Concealed --- Limit
Pairs of Red Bams and Red Dragons (Kongs are counted as two pairs if fully concealed in the hand).

All Pair Ruby Jade
Concealed --- Limit
Pairs of Green Dragons, Red Dragons, Green Bams, and Red Bams.

Gertie's Garter
Concealed --- Limit
1-7 in any two suits. This can also be thought of as 7 sequential "knitted" pairs in any two suits. "Knitting" refers to the matching of identical numbers across multiple suits.
Gertie's Garter seen as sequential knitted pairs.

Knitting
Concealed --- Half Limit
Any seven "knitted" pairs in any two suits. No Winds or Dragons. Shown here as it might look in the hand.

Dragon's Breath
Concealed --- Limit
Five pairs in any one suit, plus one of each Dragon, plus any one Dragon (making for one Dragon pair).

Sequence Hands



Wriggly Snake
Concealed --- Limit
(Also called: News Hand, News Line-up) 1-9 in one suit plus NEWS plus any Wind (making for one paired Wind).

Grand Sequence
Concealed --- Limit
1-9 in one suit plus a Pung of any Dragon plus any other 2 tiles from the same suit (making for two paired tiles in the suit). Here it's shown as it might look in the hand.

Greta's Garden
Concealed --- Limit
1-7 in one suit plus NEWS plus one of each Dragon.

Dragon's Tail
Exposed --- Half Limit
Concealed --- Limit
(Also called: Honor Line Up)
1-9 in one suit plus a pair of Dragons and a Pung of Winds (or a pair of Winds and a Pung of Dragons).

Five Odd Honors
Concealed --- Half Limit
1-9 in one suit plus five single Dragons and Winds in any combination (must not be any pairs). Shown above as it might look in the hand.

Run, Pung, and a Pair
Concealed --- Limit
1-9 in one suit plus a Pung and a pair in the same suit (effectively making for a Kong and a Pung in the grouping). Shown above organized as a run, a Pung (also called a "pung"), and a pair.
Run, Pung, and a Pair as it might look in the hand.

Gate Hands


Confused Gates
Concealed --- Limit
Pung of ones in one suit, 2-8 in another suit, and a Pung of nines in the third suit.

Heavenly Gates
Exposed --- Half Limit
Concealed --- Limit
(Also called: Nine United Sons, Nine Connected Sons, Nine Gates) Pung of ones and nines, plus a run of 2-8 (all in one suit) plus any one tile of that suit.

Dragon Gates
Concealed --- Limit
Pung of any terminal, 2-8 of same suit, and Pung of associated Dragon (see previous discussion of how Dragons are associated with suits).

True Gates
Concealed --- Limit
Pung of ones, Pung of nines, plus pairs of 2, 4, 6, 8 all in one suit only.

Number Hands


Chop Suey
Concealed --- Limit
Chows of 1-2-3 in all three suits, plus NEWS plus any Wind (making for one pair of Winds).

Sukiyaki
Concealed --- Limit
Chows of 4-5-6 in all three suits, plus NEWS plus any Wind.

Chow Mein
Concealed --- Limit
Chows of 7-8-9 in all three suits, plus NEWS plus any Wind.

Numbers Racket
Exposed --- Double Limit
(Also called: Parallel Hand, Tri-Numbers)
Pungs of the same number in all three suits, plus a Pung of Winds and a pair of Dragons (or a Pung of Dragons and a pair of Winds).

Lil
Concealed --- Limit
1-2-3 in one suit, 4-5-6 in another suit, and 7-8-9 in the third suit, plus NEWS and any Wind.

Down You Go
Concealed --- Double Limit
(Also called: Descending Even)
Kong of twos, Pung of fours, pair of sixes, and one eight all in one suit, plus NEWS.

Up You Go
Concealed --- Double Limit
(Also called: Ascending Even)
One two, pair of fours, Pung of sixes, and Kong of eights all in one suit, plus NEWS.

Honor Hands



All Winds and Dragons
Exposed --- Limit
Pungs or Kongs and a pair of Winds and Dragons only.

All Honors
Exposed --- 3 Doubles
Pungs or Kongs and a pair of Winds, Dragons, and Terminals.

Heads and Tails
Exposed --- Limit
Pungs or Kongs and a pair of ones and nines (Terminals) only.

Unique Wonders
Concealed --- Double Limit
(Also called: Thirteen Orphans, Thirteen Impossible)
A one and nine of each suit (effectively, a "knitted Pung" of ones and nines) plus NEWS plus one of each dragon plus one additional tile of any of the above (effectively making one pair in the hand).

Unique Wonders seen as knitted pungs.

Windy Dragons
Exposed --- Limit
A pair of each Wind plus two Pungs of Dragons.

Big Three Dragons
Exposed --- Limit
(Also: Three Great Scholars)
Pungs of all three Dragons, plus any Pung or Chow plus a pair in the same suit (or a pair of Winds).

Big Four Winds
Exposed --- Limit
(Also called: Four Blessings)
In the Western Game, Big Four Winds must be four Pungs of Winds plus a pair of anything. In the Chinese game, one of the Winds can be a pair (but the player's Own Wind must be one of the Pungs).

Gone With the Wind
Exposed --- Double Limit
Pungs or Kongs of all four Winds plus a pair of Dragons.

Windy Chows
Concealed --- Half Limit
A Chow in each suit plus NEWS plus any Wind tile (making a pair of that Wind).

Odds & Ends


Triple Knitting
Concealed --- Half Limit
(Also called: Crochet)
Four "knitted" Pungs plus a knitted pair. As described previously, "knitting" is the practice of matching numbers in different suits.
Triple Knitting as it would be seen in the hand.

Christmas
Exposed --- Double Limit
Pungs of twos and fives (for "25") in one suit, a Pung of Red Dragons, a Pung of Green Dragons, and a pair of White Dragons.

Civil War
Concealed --- Double Limit
1861 in one suit, 1865 in another suit, plus Pungs of North Winds and South Winds.
Civil War as it might look in the hand.

Hong Kong
Concealed --- Double Limit
1842 in one suit, 1997 in another suit, plus Pungs of East Winds and West Winds.
Hong Kong as it might look in the hand.

This special hand was created for Shanghai: Dynasty in recognition of the importance of Hong Kong to the history of Mah-Jongg.
All Kong
Exposed --- Limit
(Also called: Four Fours)
Four Kongs of anything plus a pair of anything. Note: some players require that all four Kongs be in the same suit, but Shanghai: Second Dynasty isn't quite so strict.

Back to the previous part of this chapter:

Western Mah-Jongg; Rules & Options

Or on to the next chapter:

More About Mah-Jongg