#CHINESE CHESS PIECES NAMES MANUAL#

The origins of Xiangqi would be beyond the scope of this article. David Li believes that General Han Xin invented it based on his experience during the Chu-Han Contention. Indeed, one of the hypotheses regarding the origins of Xiangqi was that it was invented during the Chu-Han Contentions. There is another documentary which touches on the subject nicely. The video cannot be found on Youtube but it can be viewed at the following link. The inscription of 楚河汉界 could be seen clearly from the video. However, there is a documentary that was done by CCTV in China, which discussed a Xiangqi board from 1108AD (大观二年).

#CHINESE CHESS PIECES NAMES MANUAL#

Xiangqi ancient manual collector Liu Guobin stated that the inscriptions of Chu-River and Han-Border only appeared in the last century. There has been some controversy about the inscriptions of Chu-River and Han-Border on the Xiangqi board.

The Chinese verse would refer to the standoff at Xingyang, as mentioned above. There is much more symbolism that would be beyond the scope of this article.Īn interesting fact is that in many Xiangqi boards, the Chinese characters 楚河汉界 (Chǔ hé Hàn jiè) can be found. (1) (2) (3)Īn interesting fact to know would be that Liu Bang was represented by the color Red and the color of Xiang Yu’s army was Black. But he would not have succeeded if he did not have help from able generals like Han Xin, Xiao He, and Zhang Liang. Liu Bang would then establish the mighty Han Dynasty. Later Liu Bang, the initial underdog, would manage to break the deadlock and defeat Xiang Yu, forcing Xiang Yu to commit suicide. Neither side could get the best of each other, and a treaty called the Treaty of the Hong Canal was signed.

It was during the Chu-Han Contention (楚汉战争Chǔ Hàn Zhàn zhēng, 206-202 BC) where there was a standoff between Liu Bang (刘邦 Liú Bāng, c. Click here for the link to Google Maps showing the place. The origins of the Xiangqi Chessboard cannot be ascertained, but many people believe that it represented a battleground that was located at Xingyang, He-nan Province, China. The ancient Chinese have long described Xiangqi as a game of miniature warfare, and the Xiangqi Chessboard would represent the battleground. History of the Xiangqi Chessboard and its Symbolism History of the Xiangqi Chessboard and its Symbolismįor the visitors who prefer watching videos, the Webmaster has also made a short video presentation that has been uploaded to Youtube, as shown below.The article would be presented based on the following topics: It is very important to know some of the terms associated with the Xiangqi Chessboard as they would be needed for discussion. This article would highlight more basic knowledge that is needed to know about the Xiangqi Chessboard than what has been covered in the previous article. The Xiangqi Chessboard represents the battleground on which the game is played. Basics of Xiangqi (Chinese Chess) 03 The Chessboard

Chinese chess pieces names