beginner Terminal & Honor Very Common
Tanyao
断幺九 | tanyao
Build your entire hand using only simple tiles numbered 2 through 8, with no terminals or honor tiles.
Han Value
1 han (closed) / 1 han (open)
Example Hand
2m 3m 4m 5p 5p 5p 3s 4s 5s 6s 7s 8s 6p 6p
Conditions
- Every tile in your hand must be a simple tile (numbered 2 through 8 in any suit)
- No terminal tiles (1 or 9 of any suit) are allowed anywhere in the hand
- No honor tiles (winds or dragons) are allowed anywhere in the hand
- This applies to all melds and the pair — every single tile must be 2-8
Strategy Tips
- Tanyao is one of the fastest and most common yaku. When your starting hand has mostly middle tiles, go for it. Discard any terminals and honors early, and build your hand from the 2-8 range.
- In most modern rule sets (including EMA and online platforms like Mahjong Soul), tanyao is valid even with open calls. This makes “open tanyao” (kuitan) a great speed strategy — call chi and pon freely on middle tiles to complete your hand quickly, even if it’s worth fewer points.
- Tanyao combines naturally with pinfu in a closed hand. Both want sequences made of middle tiles, so you’ll often end up with tanyao + pinfu together, giving you an easy 2 han base.