nine gates; nine lanterns
A special winning hand in mahjong consisting of 1-1-1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-9-9 of one suit plus any one extra tile of the same suit. It is a highly valued yakuman hand.
from Chinese jiǔliánbǎodēng
The nine gates is one of the most difficult yakuman hands in mahjong.
He was tenpai for nine gates but couldn't win.
Standard kanji spelling for this mahjong term.
Variant spelling using 連 instead of 蓮.
Variant spelling using 灯 instead of 燈.
From Chinese 九蓮宝燈 (jiǔliánbǎodēng), literally 'nine lotus lanterns'. The term is used in mahjong to describe a hand resembling a row of nine lanterns.