East wind mahjong tile

The character for east on a tile face.

Also known as: East wind honour, Ton tile, Dong wind tile

In Traditional Chinese:: 東
In Japanese (Latin):: ton

CulturalSport & gamesQuiet profile

Meanings

The east wind tile, first of the four wind honours and the one that fixes the seating and dealing order of a mahjong game.

Culturally establishedVerified fact
Is the east wind, first of the four wind honour tiles.
Contexts: History
Culturally establishedVerified fact
Fixes the order of play: the dealer is the east seat, and the round is named for the wind currently prevailing, so this tile names a position and a period as well as itself.
Contexts: History

Visual description

A single written character drawn centrally on the flat rectangle of the tile, a compact block of strokes with no counted device.

A fuller structured visual breakdown is not yet documented for this symbol.

Confidence

Current useModerate confidence: Moderate confidence because the current use is documented in encyclopedic references, but only a single source has been found so far.
IdentityModerate confidence: Moderate confidence because the identity is documented in encyclopedic references, but only a single source has been found so far.
Historical originLow confidence: Low confidence because the historical origin is documented in encyclopedic references, but only a single source has been found so far, but early or supporting evidence is limited, but the regional or cultural match to this specific claim is not precise.
Visual matchModerate confidence: Moderate confidence because the visual match is documented in encyclopedic references, but only a single source has been found so far.

Sources

Mahjong Competition Rules
World Mahjong Organisation · retrieved 2026-08-25
Tertiary reference for the internationally standardised mahjong rule set, used for the composition of the tile set and the names of its tiles. Regional rule sets differ in scoring and in which optional tiles are used, and records say so where it matters rather than presenting one variant as the game.

Last reviewed 2026-08-26

Help improve this page

Meanings

The east wind tile, first of the four wind honours and the one that fixes the seating and dealing order of a mahjong game.

Culturally establishedVerified fact

Is the east wind, first of the four wind honour tiles.

Contexts: History

Culturally establishedVerified fact

Fixes the order of play: the dealer is the east seat, and the round is named for the wind currently prevailing, so this tile names a position and a period as well as itself.

Contexts: History

Confidence

Current useModerate confidence: Moderate confidence because the current use is documented in encyclopedic references, but only a single source has been found so far.
IdentityModerate confidence: Moderate confidence because the identity is documented in encyclopedic references, but only a single source has been found so far.
Historical originLow confidence: Low confidence because the historical origin is documented in encyclopedic references, but only a single source has been found so far, but early or supporting evidence is limited, but the regional or cultural match to this specific claim is not precise.
Visual matchModerate confidence: Moderate confidence because the visual match is documented in encyclopedic references, but only a single source has been found so far.

Sources

Mahjong Competition Rules
World Mahjong Organisation · retrieved 2026-08-25
Tertiary reference for the internationally standardised mahjong rule set, used for the composition of the tile set and the names of its tiles. Regional rule sets differ in scoring and in which optional tiles are used, and records say so where it matters rather than presenting one variant as the game.

Last reviewed 2026-08-26