Xiangqi · board and method
The Chess of China
Xiangqi is best understood first as a complete game: a board of intersecting lines, two fortified palaces, a river, and pieces whose powers depend on position. Once the system is clear, historical comparisons become more precise.
01 · The board
A game drawn on lines, not squares.
The xiangqi board has nine files and ten ranks, producing ninety intersections. Pieces stand on those intersections. A river divides the two territories, while each side has a three-by-three palace marked by diagonals. These features are not decoration: they define where several pieces may move and how space is controlled.
Each side begins with sixteen pieces: one general, two advisors, two elephants, two horses, two chariots, two cannons, and five soldiers. The aim is to checkmate the opposing general or leave it with no legal response.
02 · The pieces
Movement gives every piece its historical identity.
General & advisors
The general remains inside the palace. Advisors protect it by moving diagonally within the same boundary.
Elephants & horses
Elephants move diagonally and do not cross the river; horses turn around a neighbouring point and can be blocked at the first step.
Chariots & cannons
Chariots travel along open ranks and files. Cannons move the same way but require exactly one intervening piece when they capture.
Soldiers
Soldiers advance toward the river. After crossing it, they also gain a sideways move, but never retreat.
03 · Reading a position
Look for lanes, screens, blocks, and palace pressure.
Xiangqi positions become legible when four questions are asked in order: Are the generals exposed on the same file? Which chariot lanes are open? Which piece acts as a cannon screen? Which horses are blocked at their first step? The river matters because soldiers change mobility after crossing it, while elephants remain tied to their own side.
This vocabulary is also useful for comparison. Instead of matching a cannon to a vaguely similar object in another tradition, compare the complete mechanism: ordinary movement, capture condition, board geometry, and tactical role.
04 · Historical comparison
Start from the rules you can describe.
A modern rule does not prove when that rule arose. A traditional name does not by itself prove uninterrupted use. Responsible history begins with a dated source, identifies what it actually depicts or says, and only then compares that evidence with the known system of xiangqi.
The result is a slower but more useful question: not “Which game came first?” in the abstract, but “Which dated source demonstrates this board, this movement rule, or this term?”
Continue to the evidence guide