Zung Jung System v2.51 ====================== Copyright 15 November 1997, 9 June 2003 Alan KWAN Shiu Ho Introduction ------------ "Zung Jung" means "the Middle Way" as in Confucian doctrine. "Zung Jung" ("Zung1 Jung4") is (Cantonese) "Jyut Ping"; the "j" has a "y" sound. (For information on "Jyut Ping", please see http://ctlhpan.cityu.edu.hk/lshk/ .) Zung Jung is a scoring system for the game of Mah-jong, designed to be used with traditional Chinese mahjong rules. This document describes the scoring system; please seek other references for the basic playing rules of mahjong. (If you do not know how to play true Chinese mahjong, it is recommended that you learn that first; you don't really need a scoring system when initially learning the game.) Zung Jung has been developed based on a number of existing scoring systems, in particular Modern Japanese. This is a pattern-based modern system designed with game playability as its primary goal. The unit "points" here is basically an additive version of "faan" (doubles), and bears little resemblance to the concept of triplet-points in the Classic scoring system. I choose an additive system because I believe it can be better balanced than the traditional "faan" system. (The reasons behind this choice are explained in detail in another document.) The value of most patterns are loosely based on existing systems. Some has been adjusted for playability reasons. While such in traditional systems have largely been based on the "difficulty" (chance) of accomplishing the pattern, here the playability factor, namely the usual sacrifices one has to make in the speed of his hand towards making that pattern, is also taken heavily into account. (This accounts for, for example, the relatively low value of "Four Concealed Triplets", and the relatively high value of patterns in the "Terminals" category.) For ease of learning, the patterns are divided into 10 categories (and only patterns that fall into these categories are used). One goal of this scoring system is to avoid over-complexity, which I feel to be a serious obstacle in the propagation of New Style. I am trying to keep everything simple, while offering a game of adequate depth and variety. Pattern names are mostly based on the more systematic and descriptive Japanese names, so as to be the easiest to remember, even though some cultural color has been sacrificed. Jokers are not used with this scoring system. Flowers and seasons are also not used, as they're not needed in a system where you can get points through many available patterns. The reader is expected to have familiarity with traditional scoring systems, so the explanation for the most common patterns have been omitted. This will be provided upon request. Of course, players are free to add, modify, or drop patterns as they see fit. The listed patterns and their values are meant to be suggestions. The list is under development, and I am looking for ways in which it can be improved (especially in fine-tuning the values of the patterns). As the name states, this is an 'intermediate' style of play (between Cantonese/ Hong Kong Old Style and Shanghai New Style), that may either be enjoyed (fully) on its own, or used as a stepping stone towards eventually learning New Style. Another way of looking at Zung Jung is that it is Modern Japanese Style with better balance, and many overly complicated, superfluous, or gambling-oriented ("inflation") rules removed. Because game playability is its design goal, players who play mah-jong primarily for gambling excitement would find that this system lacks 'hot spiciness'. In particular, the absence of a minimum hand limit for going out would inevitably result in totally worthless hands ("Chicken Hands") actually being made, thwarting slower, more valuable hands to the dismay of the gambler. (Although, in practice, there will be many opportunities for building 'medium' 40-point hands, with the inclusion of, and emphasis on, the Modern Japanese patterns of "Three Similar Sequences", "9-Tile Straight", and "Mixed Terminal in Each Set".) Gamblers are encouraged to stick to the Old Style game, with its stringent minimum limit, rather than taking the trouble of learning the Complementary System and sticking on it a stringent minimum limit, since that would essentially reduce the game to much the same as Old Style. 0.0 Outline ------------ When a hand goes out, check which patterns are contained by the hand, and add together the values of the patterns. If the hand does not contain any patterns (some call this a "chicken hand"), it scores only 1 point instead. As per most modern scoring systems, only the hand that goes out is scored. There is a "limit" of 320 points. If the hand contains patterns of which values add up to over 320, the hand scores 320 points. The exception is when the hand contains one of the patterns which explicitly has a value of over 320 points. In this case, the hand scores the value of that pattern (ignoring other patterns in the hand). If the hand contains several patterns with value 320 or higher, score the highest-valued pattern alone. (The true absolute limit is 480 points; the 320-point artificial limit is taken to simplify counting for big hands.) The patterns are numbered; for example, "Two Kong" is numbered "4.3.2". The first number indicates the category of the pattern; "4" here means the "Triplets and Kong" category. The second number indicates the series within the category the pattern belongs to; "3" here refers to the "Kong" series. If the series contains more than one pattern, there is a third number to identify the patterns in the series. When checking the patterns in a hand, you can count all patterns contained in the hand, provided that they belong to different series. You cannot count multiple patterns from the same series, nor can you count the same pattern more than once. For example, when you're counting "Two Kong" for 20 points, you cannot count also "One Kong" ("4.3.1", hence in the same series as "Two Kong" since the first two numbers, "4.3", are both the same) twice for 10 more points! "3.1 Scoring Honor Triplet" is an exception: you can add 10 points for each set of scoring honors in your hand. As an example, a "Four Concealed Triplets" hand is always also a "Concealed Hand" and an "All Triplets" hand, so such hand always scores at least 115+5+40=160 points. All the "patterns" listed here are merely scoring 'bonuses'; except for the hands listed in 10.0 Irregular Hands, you need a Regular Hand with 4 sets and a pair to go out in the first place. 0.1 Payoff Scheme ------------------ Zung Jung can be played largely according to the mahjong rules you know (as long as it is true Chinese mahjong). In conjunction with the scoring system, I recommend that you use one of the payoff schemes suggested here. 1. Uniform scheme: Each non-winning player pays the winner one time (1x) the value of the winning hand. This scheme is simple, and encourages aggressive pattern-building. 2. Discarder pays double scheme: If the winner wins on a discarded tile, the discarder pays him six times (6x) the value of the winning hand, and the other two players each pays him three times (3x) the value of the hand. If the winner wins on a self-drawn tile, every other player pays him four times (4x) the value of the hand. This is the same as the scheme used in Hong Kong Old Style, except that the side effect of rewarding excessively the self-draw is eliminated. The winner always collects 12x the value of his hand, regardless of whether he wins on a discard or a self-drawn tile. 3. Discarder pays all scheme: If the winner wins on a discarded tile, the discarder pays him three times (3x) the value of the winning hand, and the other two players pay nothing. If the winner wins on a self-drawn tile, every other player pays him one time (1x) the value of the hand. This is the same as the scheme used in Modern Japanese, with the East-doubling element eliminated. The winner always collects 3x the value of his hand. 4. Formal competition scheme: This scheme is probably best for formal competitions, though the calculations are a bit complicated. A standard score value is set (say 30 points). Small hands with values below the standard value are paid according to the uniform scheme. For big hands with values exceeding the standard value, the portion which exceeds the standard value is paid according to the "discarder pays all scheme" (or the "discarder pays double scheme"; to be agreed upon before the game). The portion within the standard value is still paid according to the uniform scheme. For example, if the standard score value is 30 points, for a 40-point hand, the discarder pays for all for 10 points, and also his own share for 30 points, for a total of 30 + 10 x 3 = 60 points while the two other players pay the standard value of 30 points each. For a 15-point hand, everyone pays 15 points regardless of who discarded. If you do not start with a preference for a particular scheme, the uniform scheme is recommended. "Pao" rules (concerning specific patterns) have not yet been developed for Zung Jung. 0.2 What's new in v2.51 ------------------------ A fourth payoff scheme is suggested. "Two Concealed Triplets" has been added. The score values of several patterns have been adjusted. The Patterns ============ The term "triplet" for the remainder of the article includes both triplets (pong) and kong (fours). "Concealed triplets" include concealed kong but not exposed kong. "Honors" include winds and dragons but not 1's and 9's. In the descriptions under category "8.0 Terminals", "Terminals" include 1's and 9's but not winds and dragons. There are a total of 44 patterns in 10 categories. 1.0 Trivial patterns --------------------- 1.1 All Sequences : 5 Hand contains 4 sequences. (No other restrictions as to eyes pair, calling which tile, or concealed.) 1.2 Concealed Hand : 5 Hand is concealed, without melding any exposed sets. (Concealed kongs are okay.) Picking up a discard to go out is okay. 1.3 No Terminals : 5 hand contains no terminals or honors, only numeric tiles 2 to 8 2.0 One-Suit patterns ---------------------- 2.1.1 Mixed One-Suit : 40 2.1.2 Pure One-Suit : 100 2.2 Nine Connected Pieces : 480 a 9-way call with 1112345678999 in one suit in your hand 3.0 Honor Tiles ---------------- 3.1 each triplet of scoring honors : 10 Dragons, seat wind. Prevailing wind is no longer recognized. 3.2.1 Small Three Dragons : 40 (Adding the points for 3.1 two dragon triplets, the hand always scores at least 40+10+10=60 points.) 3.2.2 Big Three Dragons : 130 (Adding the points for 3.1 three dragon triplets, the hand always scores at least 130+10+10+10=160 points, and often scores more with 2.1.1 Mixed One-Suit, 4.1 All Triplets, 8.1.3 Mixed Terminals, etc.) 3.3.1 Small Three Winds: 25 3.3.2 Big Three Winds: 120 3.3.3 Small Four Winds : 320 3.3.4 Big Four Winds : 400 3.4 All Honors : 320 4.0 Triplets and Kong ---------------------- 4.1 All Triplets : 40 4.2.1 Two Concealed Triplets : 5 4.2.2 Three Concealed Triplets : 25 4.2.3 Four Concealed Triplets : 115 (Adding the points for 1.2 Concealed and 4.1 All Triplets, the hand always scores at least 115+5+40=160 points.) 4.3.1 One Kong : 5 4.3.2 Two Kong : 20 4.3.3 Three Kong : 120 4.3.4 Four Kong : 480 5.0 Identical Sets ------------------- 5.1.1 Two Identical Sequences : 10 e.g. C-345 C-345 5.1.2 Two Identical Sequences Twice: 55 e.g. C-345 C-345 D-789 D-789 (Adding the points for 1.1 All Sequences, the hand always scores at least 55+5=60 points.) 5.1.3 Three Identical Sequences : 120 e.g. C-345 C-345 C-345 5.1.4 Four Identical Sequences : 480 e.g. C-345 C-345 C-345 C-345 6.0 Similar Sets ----------------- Similar Sets are sets in the same numbers across 3 different suits. You need all 3 suits; 2-suit patterns are not recognized. 6.1 Three Similar Sequences : 35 e.g. B-345 C-345 D-345 6.2.1 Small Three Similar Triplets : 25 e.g. C-444 D-444 B-44(as eyes) 6.2.2 Three Similar Triplets : 120 e.g. B-444 C-444 D-444 7.0 Consecutive Sets --------------------- Consecutive Sets must be in the same suit. Again, 2-set patterns are not recognized. 7.1 Nine-Tile Straight : 40 This pattern must be a 123 sequence, a 456, and a 789 in the same suit, as in the example below. e.g. C-123 C-456 C-789 7.2.1 Three Consecutive Triplets : 100 e.g. C-444 C-555 C-666 7.2.2 Four Consecutive Triplets : 200 e.g. C-444 C-555 C-666 C-777 (Adding the points for 4.1 All Triplets, the hand always scores at least 200+40=240 points, and often reaches the limit score with 2.1.2 Pure One-Suit.) 8.0 Terminals -------------- Terminals are the 1 and 9 number tiles. 8.1.1 Mixed Terminal in Each Set : 40 a 1, 9, or Honor tile in each set, and also the eyes e.g. B-111 C-123 D-789 RRR C-99 8.1.2 Pure Terminal in Each Set : 50 8.1.3 Mixed Terminals : 100 (A 4.1 All Triplets hand would be at least 100+40=140 points, and a 10.2 Seven Pairs hand would be at least 100+25+5=130 points.) 8.1.4 Pure Terminals : 400 9.0 Incidental bonuses ----------------------- 9.1.1 Catching the Moon from the Bottom of the Sea : 10 9.1.2 Catching the Fish from the Bottom of the River : 10 going out on the last discarded tile in the hand, when the wall is exhausted of playable tiles 9.2 Blossom on the Hill : 15 going out on the replacement tile (supplement tile) drawn for a kong 9.3 Robbing a Kong : 15 9.4.1 Blessing of Heaven : 320 East goes out on his initial dealt hand. Does not qualify if East has made a concealed kong. 9.4.2 Blessing of Earth : 320 Non-East going out by claiming East's first discard. Does not qualify if East has made a concealed kong. 10.0 Irregular Hands --------------------- Irregular Hands are hands that do not consist of 4 sets and a pair. 10.1 Thirteen Terminals : 320 10.2 Seven Pairs : 25 Hand consists of 7 pairs. Identical pairs (4 identical tiles /not/ melded as a kong) are allowed. (The hand is always 1.2 Concealed, so it always scores at least 25+5=30 points.) END OF DOCUMENT