Red dragon mahjong tile

The character for centre on a tile face.

Also known as: Red dragon honour, Chun tile, Centre tile mahjong

CulturalSport & gamesStandard profile

Meanings

The red dragon tile, drawn with the character meaning centre and scoring for any player who collects a set of it.

Culturally establishedVerified fact
Is the red dragon, one of three dragon honour tiles.
Contexts: History
Culturally establishedVerified fact
Scores for any player holding a set of it, unlike a wind, which scores only for the player it belongs to.
Contexts: History
Culturally establishedVerified fact
Bears a character meaning centre rather than any word for a dragon, so the English name of the tile describes neither its character nor its picture.
Contexts: History

A single glyph of few strokes drawn centrally on the rectangle of the tile in a distinguishing colour.

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.
Current useModerate confidence: Moderate confidence because the current use is documented in encyclopedic references, but only a single source has been found so far.
Visual matchModerate confidence: Moderate confidence because the visual match is documented in encyclopedic references, but only a single source has been found so far.

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

Meanings

The red dragon tile, drawn with the character meaning centre and scoring for any player who collects a set of it.

Culturally establishedVerified fact

Is the red dragon, one of three dragon honour tiles.

Contexts: History

Culturally establishedVerified fact

Scores for any player holding a set of it, unlike a wind, which scores only for the player it belongs to.

Contexts: History

Culturally establishedVerified fact

Bears a character meaning centre rather than any word for a dragon, so the English name of the tile describes neither its character nor its picture.

Contexts: History

Confidence

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.
Current useModerate confidence: Moderate confidence because the current use is documented in encyclopedic references, but only a single source has been found so far.
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