<sod>  
 Each tile pattern in the Chinese domino set is made up of the outcome of a throw of two six-sided [[dice]].  There are therefore 21 unique patterns.  A tile set consists of 32 tiles in two "suits" or groups called "military" and "civilian".  There are no markings on the tiles to distinguish these suits; a player must simply remember which tiles belong to which group.
 
The tile set contains two each of eleven civilian suit tiles (6-6, 1-1, 4-4, 1-3, 5-5, 3-3, 2-2, 5-6, 4-6, 1-6, 1-5) and one each of ten military suit tiles (3-6, 4-5; 2-6, 3-5; 2-5, 3-4; 2-4; 1-4, 2-3; 1-2).  Each civilian tile also has a Chinese name (and common rough translation to English): The 6-6 is ''tin'' (天 heaven), 1-1 is ''dei'' (地 earth), 4-4 is ''yan'' (人 man), 1-3 is ''ngo'' (鵝 goose or 和 harmony), 5-5 is ''mui'' (梅 plum flower), 3-3 is ''cheung'' (長 long), 2-2 is ''ban'' (板 board), 5-6 is ''fu'' (斧 hatchet), 4-6 is ''ping'' (屏 partition), 1-6 is ''tsat'' (七) (long leg seven), and 1-5 is ''luk'' (六) (big head six).
 
 The civilian tiles are ranked according to the Chinese cultural significance of the tile names, and must be memorized.  For example, heaven ranks higher than earth; earth ranks higher than man etc.  Remembering the suits and rankings of the tiles is easier if one understands the Chinese names of the tiles and the symbolism behind them.  
 The military tiles are named and ranked according to the total points on the tiles.  For example, the "nines" (3-6 and 4-5) rank higher than the "eights" (2-6 and 3-5).
 <eod> <sod> 
 Each tile pattern in the Chinese domino set is made up of the outcome of a throw of two six-sided [[dice]].  There are therefore 21 unique patterns.  A tile set consists of 32 tiles in two "suits" or groups called "military" and "civilian".  There are no markings on the tiles to distinguish these suits; a player must simply remember which tiles belong to which group.
 
The tile set contains two each of eleven civilian suit tiles (6-6, 1-1, 4-4, 1-3, 5-5, 3-3, 2-2, 5-6, 4-6, 1-6, 1-5) and one each of ten military suit tiles (3-6, 4-5; 2-6, 3-5; 2-5, 3-4; 2-4; 1-4, 2-3; 1-2).  Each civilian tile also has a Chinese name (and common rough translation to English): The 6-6 is ''tin'' (天 heaven), 1-1 is ''dei'' (地 earth), 4-4 is ''yan'' (人 man), 1-3 is ''ngo'' (鵝 goose or 和 harmony), 5-5 is ''mui'' (梅 ''[[ume|mei]]'' flower), 3-3 is ''cheung'' (長 long), 2-2 is ''ban'' (板 board), 5-6 is ''fu'' (斧 hatchet), 4-6 is ''ping'' (屏 partition), 1-6 is ''tsat'' (七) (long leg seven), and 1-5 is ''luk'' (六) (big head six).
 
 The civilian tiles are ranked according to the Chinese cultural significance of the tile names, and must be memorized.  For example, heaven ranks higher than earth; earth ranks higher than man etc.  Remembering the suits and rankings of the tiles is easier if one understands the Chinese names of the tiles and the symbolism behind them.  
 The military tiles are named and ranked according to the total points on the tiles.  For example, the "nines" (3-6 and 4-5) rank higher than the "eights" (2-6 and 3-5).
 <eod>