Sichuan Mahjong: Rules, Missing Suits and Regional Playing Culture

Автор Anthony
Опубликовано Ноябрь 6, 2026

Learn Sichuan mahjong rules, from the missing suit and three tile exchange to continued wins, scoring differences and Chengdu’s social playing traditions.

Quick Answer: What Makes Sichuan Mahjong Different?

Sichuan mahjong (麻将, májiàng) is a regional family of four-player games. This guide focuses on Blood Battle (血战到底, xuèzhàndàodǐ): players leave one suit out of their winning hands, and the first winner does not end the deal.

Use 108 numbered tiles, with no winds, dragons, flowers or seasons.
Choose a missing suit and clear its tiles before winning.
Claim triplets and quads, but not sequences from another player’s discard.
Continue after a win until three players have won or the wall runs out.

Agree on a precise rulesheet before starting. Exchange procedures, scoring limits and end-of-hand payments differ between published versions.^[1][2][3][4]

Follow the missing suit rule and track players remaining after each win

The change is more than removing a few tiles from a standard mahjong set. A suit you might normally keep can become a compulsory discard, and a player who has already won no longer participates in later scoring. Understanding those changes matters more than memorizing every bonus name.

What the 108 Tile Set Contains

The three suits are Characters (万, wàn), Bamboo (条, tiáo) and Dots (筒, tǒng). Each contains the numbers one through nine, with four copies of each tile: 3 × 9 × 4 = 108. Remove the honor and bonus tiles before playing; Bamboo remains in the set.^[1]

The dealer starts with fourteen tiles and the other players with thirteen. A normal completed hand has four groups and a pair, with a declared quad containing an additional physical tile. Seven Pairs (七对, qīduì) is another recognized winning structure in the short competition guide.^[2]

Here is an original ordinary winning arrangement, assuming Characters was the declared missing suit:

Bamboo: 1–2–3 and 4–5–6.
Dots: 7–8–9 and 5–5–5.
Pair: Bamboo 2–2.

That is fourteen tiles, no Characters, and no tile identity appears more than four times. It illustrates structure, not a promised payout: scoring conditions still belong to the chosen rulesheet.

Exchange Three and Declare a Missing Suit

Exchange Three (换三张, huànsānzhāng) is used in many modern implementations. In the version described here, every player selects three tiles from one suit and passes them in the direction specified for that deal. The missing-suit declaration (定缺, dìngquē) follows the exchange.^[6]

For a table using this opening, follow these four steps:

Sort your starting tiles into the three suits. Check the correct tile count before making a selection.
Select three tiles of the same suit for the agreed exchange. Pass them only in the direction established for this deal.
Add the received tiles, then choose and declare the suit you will exclude. Make that decision using the hand you now hold.
During play, discard tiles of that declared suit before tiles of the other suits. Clear the suit completely before declaring a win.

Once declared, the missing suit cannot be changed. You may finish with either one or two suits; you do not have to collect a full flush.^[1] For practice, suppose you declare Characters and later draw another Character tile. The original declaration still applies: that tile must be discarded before an ordinary discard from your retained suits.

The exchange is not universal. One published implementation lets players turn it off, while the short competition introduction goes straight from dealing to selecting a voided suit. That guide also specifies a face-down selection revealed through the first discard, so declaration procedure should be checked as well as exchange direction.^[2][4]

Play Without Chow Claims

A chow (吃, chī) is a three-tile sequence; a chow claim takes a discard to complete it. Sichuan Blood Battle forbids this claim, but allows a pung (碰, pèng), a triplet claim, and a kong (杠, gàng), a quad declaration. Sequences assembled within your own hand remain valid; “no chow” does not mean “all triplets.”^[3]

If you hold Bamboo 1 and 2, you cannot claim another player’s discarded Bamboo 3 to expose a sequence. Drawing Bamboo 3 yourself is different: it can complete a concealed sequence, provided Bamboo is not your missing suit. This distinction explains how the example hand above can contain three sequences.

A declared quad still fills one group slot, but needs a replacement draw. It can also trigger a separate payment before play continues.^[6] The normal rhythm still involves drawing and discarding, interrupted by permitted claims or a win. A beginner who has never played should first learn that rhythm in our mahjong rules guide, then apply the Sichuan restrictions.

Why the Hand Continues After a Win

A winner stops participating in subsequent play and scoring. The remaining players continue, stopping when three have won or the wall is exhausted. More than one player may win from the same discard under the published framework.^[1]

Imagine East wins first. South, West and North continue; East does not return to the draw-and-discard cycle. If West then wins, South and North remain. A later self-draw therefore does not automatically involve three paying opponents. Keep a record of who has already won so that a four-player payment assumption does not survive after the table has changed.

This continuation gives Blood Battle a different shape from a game in which the first winning hand immediately ends the deal. Our Hong Kong mahjong guide covers that other regional framework.

Scoring and Checks When the Wall Runs Out

The short competition guide converts fan (番, fān) into a base value as follows. Its self-draw payment adds one point to that base for each opponent who has not already won; a discard win is paid by the discarder.^[2]

Counted fan	Base points in this framework
Zero fan	1
One fan	2
Two fan	4
Three or more fan	8

A zero-fan hand can therefore have a value without a bonus pattern. Do not import an eight-point qualifying minimum from another mahjong family just because this table has an eight-point cap.

Other published implementations use different settings, including a four-fan cap and self-draw counted as an additional fan. An added fan and an added point do not produce the same calculation.^[4] The worked examples in mahjong scoring systems separate that conversion from the final payment.

When the wall runs out, winning payments are not necessarily the only calculation left. A flower pig (花猪, huāzhū) check concerns a player who has failed to clear the required suit; the ready-hand check (查叫, chájiào) distinguishes players who could legally win on one more tile from those who could not. Penalty amounts and treatment of quad payments require the selected rulesheet.^[3] Do not combine a cap from one version with end checks from another.

Mahjong at the Chengdu Social Table

Mahjong belongs to Chengdu’s everyday social history as well as its rulebooks. Research discussed in a university lecture connects teahouses, neighborhood recreation and family gatherings with the city’s playing culture. It also shows tensions around noise, shared space and how outsiders portray the city.^[5]

That context is more useful than treating every Chengdu resident as an enthusiastic player. A social table can preserve familiar local rules without making those rules the only authentic form. Before joining, ask which opening and scoring sheet the group uses, and whether a practice hand is possible. Keep conversation and play considerate of the people sharing the space.

For the wider history of the game, see mahjong and Chinese playing traditions.

FAQs About Sichuan Mahjong

Can you make a sequence if chow claims are forbidden?

Yes. You may assemble sequences in your own hand. The restriction concerns taking another player’s discard to declare a sequence.^[3]

Does a missing suit mean keeping only one suit?

No. Removing the declared suit leaves up to two suits available. A single-suit hand is possible but is not the basic missing-suit requirement.^[1]

Is exchanging three tiles compulsory?

Not across every version. Some implementations offer an exchange option, and the short competition introduction does not include it. Establish the opening procedure before dealing.^[2][4]

How does Blood Flow differ from Blood Battle?

In the published comparison used here, Blood Flow (血流成河, xuèliúchénghé) allows players who have won to remain and win again. Blood Battle removes a winner from subsequent play in that deal.^[4]