MCR Fan List: Every Pattern and Its Value

How to read this table

Chinese Official mahjong is usually described as having 79 scoring patterns. The table below gives every pattern with a defined fan value, from 88 down to 1 fan — the patterns that decide real hands. Values are fixed by the rule set, so a nine gates hand is always 88 and a voided suit is always 2.

Read the third column as the minimum requirement. A pattern is claimed only if the whole hand satisfies it; partial matches score nothing.

88 fan

Fan	Pattern	Requires
88	Big Four Winds	Pungs or kongs of all four winds
88	Big Three Dragons	Pungs or kongs of red, green and white dragons
88	All Green	Only 2, 3, 4, 6, 8 bamboo and the green dragon
88	Nine Gates	1112345678999 of one suit plus any tile of that suit
88	Four Kongs	Four kongs, concealed or melded
88	Seven Shifted Pairs	Seven consecutive pairs in a single suit
88	Thirteen Orphans	One of each terminal and honour, plus a duplicate

64 fan

Fan	Pattern	Requires
64	All Terminals	Pungs of 1 and 9 in all three suits, with a terminal pair
64	Little Four Winds	Three wind pungs plus a pair of the fourth wind
64	All Honours	Winds and dragons only, no suited tiles
64	Four Concealed Pungs	Four pungs or kongs, none claimed from a discard
64	One-Suit Twin Dragons	123 and 789 of one suit plus a pair of 5s in that suit

48 fan

Fan	Pattern	Requires
48	Little Three Dragons	Two dragon pungs plus a pair of the third dragon
48	Quadruple Chow	Four identical runs in one suit
48	Four Pure Shifted Pungs	Four pungs in one suit, each one number higher than the last

32 fan

Fan	Pattern	Requires
32	Four Pure Shifted Chows	Four runs in one suit, each starting one number higher
32	Three Kongs	Three kongs in one hand
32	Mixed Terminals	Terminals and honours only, pungs plus a pair

24 fan

Fan	Pattern	Requires
24	Seven Stars	All seven honours plus one suited tile from each suit, none connected
24	All Even Pungs	Four pungs of even-numbered tiles plus an even pair
24	Full Flush	One suit only, no honours, no second suit anywhere
24	Pure Triple Chow	Three identical runs in one suit
24	Pure Shifted Pungs	Three pungs in one suit, consecutive numbers
24	Upper Tiles	Every tile is 7, 8 or 9
24	Middle Tiles	Every tile is 4, 5 or 6
24	Lower Tiles	Every tile is 1, 2 or 3

16 fan

Fan	Pattern	Requires
16	Pure Straight	123, 456 and 789 in one suit
16	Three-Suit Twin Dragons	123 and 789 in two suits, plus a pair of 5s in the third
16	Pure Shifted Chows	Three runs in one suit, each starting one number higher
16	All Fives	Every set and the pair contains a 5
16	Triple Pung	The same number pung in all three suits
16	Three Concealed Pungs	Three pungs or kongs, none claimed
16	Shifted Pungs	Three pungs, same suit, consecutive numbers

8 fan

Fan	Pattern	Requires
8	Last Tile Draw	Self-drawn on the final tile of the wall
8	Last Tile Claim	Won on the final discard of the hand
8	Out with Replacement Tile	Won on the replacement drawn after a kong
8	Robbing the Kong	Won on a tile an opponent added to an existing pung
8	Mixed Straight	123, 456 and 789, one run in each suit
8	Reversible Tiles	Only tiles that read the same upside down: 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 circles plus white and green dragons
8	Mixed Triple Chow	The same run in all three suits
8	Mixed Shifted Pungs	Three pungs, same numbers, one in each suit
8	Chicken Hand	No pattern at all, where the table rule allows a minimum win

6 fan

Fan	Pattern	Requires
6	All Pungs	Four pungs or kongs plus a pair, no runs
6	Half Flush	One suit plus honours
6	Melded Hand	Every set claimed from a discard, won on a discard
6	Two Concealed Kongs	Two kongs, neither claimed
6	Two Dragon Pungs	Pungs of two different dragons

4 fan

Fan	Pattern	Requires
4	No Honours	No wind or dragon anywhere in the hand
4	Fully Concealed Hand	Closed hand won on a self-draw; includes the self-draw value
4	Two Melded Kongs	Two kongs, both claimed
4	Last of Its Kind	The winning tile is the last of its four copies; the other three are already visible in discards or melds

2 fan

Fan	Pattern	Requires
2	Pure Double Chow	Two identical runs in one suit
2	Mixed Double Chow	Two runs of the same numbers in different suits
2	Short Straight	Six consecutive tiles forming two runs in one suit
2	Two Terminal Chows	123 and 789 of the same suit
2	Terminal or Honour Pung	A pung of 1, 9, a wind or a dragon
2	Melded Kong	One kong claimed from a discard
2	One Voided Suit	One of the three suits absent entirely
2	No Melded Kongs	The hand contains no claimed kong
2	Edge Wait	Waiting on 3 in a 12 shape, or 7 in an 89 shape, single wait only
2	Closed Wait	Waiting on the middle tile of a run, single wait only
2	Single Wait	Waiting on the pair tile only
2	Self-Draw	Won on a tile you drew yourself

1 fan

Fan	Pattern	Requires
1	Flower Tile	One fan per flower, never counted toward the 8-fan minimum

How fan is actually counted

Six principles decide what a hand is worth. They cause most scoring arguments, so learn them as rules, not guidance.

1. Never count twice. A tile cannot earn fan for two patterns describing the same thing.
2. Take the higher value. When two readings of the same structure conflict, the larger one applies.
3. Do not split or move sets. You cannot rearrange tiles to create patterns that the hand does not naturally contain.
4. Count each pattern once. A pattern that appears twice is scored once unless the table explicitly allows repetition.
5. Flowers never reach the minimum. They add value but cannot carry a hand over 8 fan on their own.
6. Exclusive patterns cancel. If two patterns cannot coexist, only one is scored.

Pairs that never stack

Pair	What happens
Full Flush and Half Flush	Mutually exclusive. A single-suit hand is a full flush, not both.
All Terminals and Mixed Terminals	Mutually exclusive. Adding honours drops you from 64 to 32.
Little Four Winds and Big Four Winds	Upgrade, not addition. The fourth wind pung makes it big.
Little Three Dragons and Big Three Dragons	Upgrade. The third dragon pung replaces the little version.
All Green without the green dragon	Falls back to Full Flush at 24 fan, not 88.
Fully Concealed Hand and Self-Draw	Fully concealed already includes the self-draw value.
Edge, closed and single waits	Only counted when the hand has a single wait, not alongside a two-sided wait.
Seven pairs with four of a kind	Four identical tiles count as two pairs, and no pung pattern is scored on them.

Reaching 8 fan in practice

Most hands that fail at a Chinese Official table miss the threshold by a small margin. The realistic route to 8 fan is stacking mid-value patterns that appear naturally: a half flush with a terminal pung and a voided suit gets close; a full flush with two small patterns clears it easily.

If you are two fan short and the hand is one tile from complete, the right call is usually to keep building, not to declare. A false win costs more than a missed opportunity. See scoring for the penalty structure and winning hands for the shape check that comes before the fan check.

Quick answers

How many patterns are in the Chinese Official list?

The rule set is usually described as having 79. This page lists the 64 with a defined fan value, which covers every pattern worth 8 fan or more plus the low-value patterns used to reach the threshold.

Do flower tiles count toward 8 fan?

No. Each flower is worth 1 fan, but flowers are excluded when checking the minimum. A hand of eight flowers alone is not a win.

Can a hand be both a full flush and a half flush?

No. They are mutually exclusive, and the higher value applies. A single-suit hand with no honours is a full flush only.

What is a chicken hand?

A hand with no scoring pattern at all. Some table rules allow it as an 8-fan minimum win; in strict play it is simply below the threshold.