Chinese Official Mahjong · 1 pt
Flower Tiles in Chinese Official Mahjong (MCR): Points and the 8-Point Minimum
In Chinese Official Mahjong, each flower is worth 1 point: the set has eight flowers (spring, summer, autumn, winter; plum, orchid, bamboo, chrysanthemum). When you draw one you expose it in front of you and draw a replacement from the wall. When you win, you add one point per flower in front of you. Flowers don't count toward the 8-point minimum, but they do count when the hand is paid.
On this page
How flowers score
- 1 point each, whichever flower it is: unlike Taiwanese mahjong's seat flowers, every MCR flower is the same
- Not counted toward the minimum: the 8-point check uses the points without flowers, so 7 points plus three flowers still can't win
- Counted for payment: once you win, flower points are added to the total and payment uses that total
- They don't break a Chicken Hand: a hand with nothing but flowers is still a Chicken Hand (8), plus the flowers
- Expose a flower as soon as you draw it; winning on its replacement is an ordinary self-draw, not Out with Replacement Tile
Scoring examples
Both hands are scored live by this site's scoring engine — the same one the game uses.
Won on a discard · 3 flower(s)
| Two Dragon Pungs | 6 |
| Single Wait | 1 |
| Flower Tiles ×3 | 3 |
| Total | 10 pt |
|---|
Below 8 points — not allowed to win.
Not counted (implied by a bigger fan): Dragon Pung
Won on a discard · 3 flower(s)
| Chicken Hand | 8 |
| Flower Tiles ×3 | 3 |
| Total | 11 pt |
|---|
Reaches the 8-point minimum — a legal win.
How often you have flowers
Eight flowers are spread over four players, so having some is normal. In 4,000 computer games on this site there were 3,849 wins; 78% of them had flowers, and the winner held 1.5 flowers on average. Flowers are extra points, but they never help you reach 8.
Flowers and the 8-point minimum
Flowers often make players think they "have enough":
- First check whether the points without flowers reach 8; only then may you win
- After that, flower points are added and count for payment
- So many flowers don't let you build a smaller hand, and few flowers never stop you winning — they only change the score
To try it, play MCR online — flower replacement and scoring are automatic.
In other mahjong styles
- Taiwanese mahjong: only your seat's flowers score, 1 tai each, and a full set is a flower kong (Taiwanese mahjong Own Seat Flower, Taiwanese mahjong Flower Set)
FAQ
How many points is a flower?
1 point per flower in Chinese Official Mahjong.
Do flowers count toward the 8-point minimum?
No. The minimum uses the points without flowers; once you have 8, flower points are added to the total for payment.
Do my own flowers score differently?
No. In MCR every flower — seasons or plants — is 1 point, whatever your seat.
Related fan
Chicken Hand 8 pt
A win with no fan at all scores 8 points. No concealed hand, no All Chows, no All Simples, no One Voided Suit… and no self-draw.
Self-Drawn 1 pt
Win on your own draw: 1 point, and all three opponents pay. Concealed it becomes Fully Concealed Hand; Last Tile Draw and Out with Replacement Tile also replace it.
Out with Replacement Tile 8 pt
Win on the replacement tile after a kong: 8 points, no Self-Drawn on top. Any kind of kong counts; a flower replacement doesn't.
Try it at the table
Chinese Official Mahjong — Play Chinese Official Mahjong (Mahjong Competition Rules, MCR) free in your browser against three computer opponents. 8-point minimum, all 81 fan scored automatically with the official non-repeat rules. No sign-up, works on phone and desktop.