Proto-mahjong › Chinese classical › Shanghai / Hong Kong new style › Hong Kong old style › Taiwanese style
Taiwanese style
16-tile hand, 1980s
Descends into
- Hong Kong Taiwanese — HKT
Cross-comparison
corroborated — two or more independent sources agree on the facts that define this variant
| Source | Tiles | Hand | Flowers | Scoring | Payout |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| [1] | 144 | 16, out on 17 | melded instantly when received | count doubles, convert to points | winner only |
| [2] | 144 | 16 | dead wall 16 | pattern; unit tai; minimum 5 tai, maximum 300 tai | — |
| [3] | — | sixteen tiles, against thirteen in other versions | — | — | — |
| [4] | — | — | — | linear, using tai (台), where the winning hand's tai count is multiplied by a factor and added to a base score | — |
- [1] books: Amy Lo, Dragon Chang
- [3] features bonuses for dealers and recurring dealerships, and allows multiple players to win from a single discard. Separately notes that holding all eight flowers and seasons is an automatic win with a payout from all players
- [4] contrasts this explicitly with the exponential doubling used in Hong Kong scoring
Reading it
Four sources agree on the 144-tile set and the 16-tile hand, and two independently describe tai scoring as linear, which the wiki's infobox also shows. Wikipedia adds two structural features the chart omits and which distinguish the branch sharply from Hong Kong play: recurring dealerships, and multiple players winning from one discard. This is among the best-supported nodes in the tree.
Sources
Sloper, Tom. "FAQ 2b: Identifying a Mah-Jongg Variant." Sloperama. supporting checked 2026-09-18
Tile counts, hand sizes, flower handling and scoring for roughly 50 named variants. Primary source for most leaf nodes in this chart.
https://www.sloperama.com/mjfaq/mjfaq02b.html
Also cited on: Chinese archaic, Chinese pre-classical, Chinese classical, Shanghai / Hong Kong new style, Hong Kong old style, Modern HKOS and 43 more · bibliography #1
Mahjong Wiki. "Taiwanese Overview." mahjong.wikidot.com. canonical checked 2026-09-18
Cited as the source for individual nodes in the chart's node table. Carries no bibliography or per-claim citations of its own; see the appendix on tracing the wiki.
http://mahjong.wikidot.com/rules:taiwanese-overview
Also cited on: Hong Kong Taiwanese · bibliography #44
Wikipedia. "Mahjong." cross-check checked 2026-09-18
The main article's regional-variations section, which describes most branches of this tree independently of the chart's own sources.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahjong
Also cited on: Chinese classical, Hong Kong old style, Singapore style, Filipino style, Vietnamese classical, Vietnamese modern and 6 more · bibliography #54
Wikipedia. "Scoring in Mahjong." cross-check checked 2026-09-18
Comparative scoring across Hong Kong, Chinese Classical and Taiwanese systems, including the range of minimum-point conventions and the Mandarin and Cantonese terms for a scoreless hand.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scoring_in_Mahjong
Also cited on: Chinese classical, Modern HKOS, Zung Jung, Tui Dao Hu · bibliography #55
Mahjong Wiki. "Hong Kong Old Style Overview." supporting
The 1950s simplification, removal of fu, the 1970s 3-3 system, and the late-1980s split into Taiwanese and Guangdong styles.
http://mahjong.wikidot.com/rules:hong-kong-old-style-overview
Also cited on: Hong Kong old style, Modern HKOS, Guangdong style, Guangdong MCR / GMCR · bibliography #8