与国外朋友聊起四川特色，麻将是不得不提的一个内容。
下周约了一起麻将(Mahjong)，用英语解释规则还是有点挑战。
提前做了点功课，记录如下
----------------------------------------------
Mahjong is a tile-based game which was developed in China in the Qing dynasty and has spread throughout the world since the early 20th century. It is commonly played by four players (with some three-player variations found in South Korea, Japan and Southeast Asia). The game and its regional variants are widely played throughout Asia (especially in the Eastern and South Eastern Asia) and have materialized into an Asian culture in relation to its high degree of influence, in addition, they have also been increasingly regarded as a popular pastime and entertainment among Western countries and other parts of the world.
Due to its influence and popularity, the game has been adapted into a widespread online entertainment. Similar to the Western card game rummy, Mahjong is a game of skill, strategy, and calculation and involves a degree of chance.
The game is played with a set of 144 tiles based on Chinese characters and symbols, although some regional variations may omit some tiles and/or add unique tiles. In most variations, each player begins by receiving 13 tiles. In turn players draw and discard tiles until they complete a legal hand using the 14th drawn tile to form 4 melds (or sets) and a pair (eye). A player can also win with a small class of special hands. There are fairly standard rules about how a piece is drawn, how a piece is robbed from another player, the use of simples (numbered tiles) and honors (winds and dragons), the kinds of melds allowed, how to deal the tiles and the order of play.
Despite these similarities, there are many regional variations to the rules including rather different scoring systems, criteria for legal winning hands and even private table rules which distinguish some variations as notably different styles of mahjong.
----------------------------------------------
Simples tiles
There are 3 suits of simples and in each suit the tiles are numbered from 1 to 9. The suits are: bamboos, dots and characters. There are 4 identical copies of each simples tile totaling 108 simples tiles.
Honors tiles
There are two different sets of Honors tiles: Winds and Dragons. The Winds are East, South, West and North. In Mahjong East (not North) is the beginning. The Dragons are Red, Green and White. The white dragon has a blue or black frame on the face of the piece or in some sets is entirely blank. These tiles have no numerical sequence like the simples (for example the bamboo pieces number 1 to 9).
Bonus tiles
There are two sets of bonus tiles: Flowers and Seasons. The flower and season tiles are unique not only in playing different roles in the mechanics of the game, but also in their being represented by only one tile, rather than four copies: there are a total of four flower and four season tiles in the set. The tiles have a different artistic rendering of a specific type of flower or season. These tiles are not drawn into a player's hand but are set aside (kept near the player's other tiles for scoring purposes should they win the hand) when drawn and an extra tile is drawn in replacement of the bonus tile.
----------------------------------------------
Melds
Melds/Pongs are a set of three identical tiles.
Kong is a complete set of four identical tiles.
Chow is a meld of three suited tiles in sequence.
Eyes (also known as a pair) are two identical tiles which are an essential part of a legal winning hand. A piece cannot be stolen (melded) to form a pair of eyes unless the player simultaneously completes a legal winning hand.
If you want to watch videos to speed up your learn process, I recommend one Yutube link for you:
Youtube video:How to Play Mahjong
