Mahjong Tiles - Construction

Construction

Traditionally, Mahjong tiles were made of bone, often backed with bamboo. Bone tiles are still available but most modern sets are constructed from various plastics such as bakelite, celluloid, and more recently nylon. There are a small number of sets that have been made with ivory or jade, but these are exceedingly rare: most sets sold as ivory are in fact made from bone. Regardless of the material used to construct the tiles, the symbols on them are almost always engraved or pressed into the material. Some expert players can determine the face value of their tiles without actually looking at them by feeling these engravings with their fingers.

There are generally two size categories available, the larger mainland-China size and the smaller Taiwanese/Japanese/American size. However, within the former category (Mainland Chinese), 4 sizes have been roughly standardized:

• Size 8 ~ 39 × 30 × 23 mm
• Size 7.5 ~ 38 × 28 × 22 mm
• Size 7 ~ 36 × 26 × 21 mm
• Size 6 ~ 34 × 25 × 19 mm

The length/thickness ratio in all of these must be above 1: 1.5, so that the tiles can steadily stand upright, since Chinese players use no racks to support their tiles in hand during play.

The sizes within the second category (Taiwanese/Japanese/American tiles) have lengths that vary roughly between 3 cm (1-5/32") and 2.5 cm (1"). However, the Japanese tiles set themselves apart within this class by virtue of their thickness, which allows them to stand upright—despite their diminutive overall size. This enables Japanese mahjong players also to dispense with the use of racks (these are pervasive in the American game, in combination with slimmer tiles.)