Facts on East Asian Chess
Peter Banaschak
Peter Banaschak (1997), Facts on the Origin of Chinese Chess(Xiangqi 象棋).
Peter Banaschak (1999), Early East Asian Chess Pieces: An Overview.
Facts on the Origin of Chinese Chess
In the elder Chinese literature five hypotheses on the origins of Chinese Chess feature prominently The list follows Zhou Jiasen 周家森 and Li Songfu 李松福 . Ordered according to the antiquity they ascribe to Chinese Chess these hypotheses are :
1. An origin in the age of the legendary Shennong 神農 (trad. reigned 2737-2697 BC), as proposed by the Yuan 元 (1206- 1368) monk Nianchang 念常 (1282-1342?) in his "佛租歷代通載", 昔神農以日月星辰為象唐相國牛僧孺用車馬士卒加砲代之為(。) "In olden times Shennong used the sun (日), the moon (月), the stars (星), and the planets (辰) as symbols (象); the Tang 唐- Minister of State (相國) Niu Sengru 牛僧孺 used chariots (車), horses (馬), scholars (士), soldiers (卒), and catapults (砲) to replace these as utensils in the game."
2. An origin in the age of the legendary Huangdi 黃帝 (trad. reigned 2697-2597 BC), as proposed by Zhao Buzhi 晁補之 (1053-1110) of 北宋 (960-1126) in his "廣象戲格 序", 象戲兵戲也黃帝之戰驅猛獸以為陣象獸之雄也故戲兵而以象戲名之(。) "象戲 is a game of strategy; Huangdi in his wars used fierce animals in his battle array; as Elephants (象) are the strongest of wild animals, the game is called Xiangxi after this strategy."
3. An origin in the age of 周 (1122-249 BC) 武王 (reigned1122-1115 BC), in the time of this last campaigns against the tyrant 商 紂 (reigned 1154-1122 BC), as proposed by 明- (1368-1644) time Xie Zaihang 謝在杭 (=Xie Zhaozhe 謝肇淛, 1567-1624) in his "五雜俎 (‘Investigations on the five categories of things’)" , thus ascribing Chinese Chess an origin in the late 12th century BC. 象棋相傳為武王伐紂時作即不然亦戰國兵家者流蓋時猶重車戰也 "Xiangqi, according to tradition made by King Wu of Zhou in the time of his final campaigns against Shang; if that is not so, at least it became popular among military personnel in the time of the contending realms, as in this time chariot warfare was still important."
4. An origin in the time of the contending realms (475-221 BC). This was proposed in Hu Yinglin’s 胡應麟 (1551-1602) Bicong 筆叢 (‘Brush notes’, a kind of essays) , and the "潛確居類書 (‘Encyclopaedia of hidden and real conditions’)" , which was compiled by Chen Renxi 陳仁錫 (1581-1636), thus ascribing Xiangqi an origin in the third century BC, 雍門周謂孟嘗君足下燕居則鬥象棋亦戰國之事也蓋戰國用兵故時人用戰爭之象為棋勢也 "Yong Menzhou 雍門周 said to Mengchangjun 孟嘗君: Mylord, if you are at leisure, play Xiangqi; thus it was a thing from the time of the contending realms. Because in the strategy of the contending realms the people of this time used elephants just as in the board game strategy (棋勢)." The prince Mengchang mentioned here was a well-known man who lived during the times of the last Zhou-king; thus the admonition quoted here would point to a date in the late third century BC.
5. An origin in the time of Beizhou (Northern Zhou, 557-589) 北周 武帝 (reigned 561-578), as proposed in the "太平御覽 (‘Grand mirror of the Taiping era’)" (completed in 982) under the heading ‘Xiangqi’. 周武帝造象戲(。) "Zhou Wudi created Xiangxi", the "物原 (‘Source of Things’)" of Ming 明 Meng Qi 夢頎 explains: 周武帝作象棋(。)"Zhou Wudi made Xiangqi".
The earliest still extant text in which we find the combination of the characters xìang 象 and qì 棋 is the Chuci 楚辭 (‘Poems from Chu’) , a corpus of poems purportively deriving from the third or second century BC, but finally arranged (and edited?) only in the early second century AD. The poems themselves might indeed have been composed during the later contending realms period. The Zhaohun 招魂 (‘Calling back the soul’) , a long poem by Song Yu 宋玉, contains the characters xiang and qi. Chinese commentators do agree that a kind of game is referred to but they usually assume that liubo 六博 is meant. … 篦蔽象棋有六簙些(。) …The castor shrubs hide the Xiangqi, but there still is the Liubo! (or: … there it is, the Liubo! (?)). From this sentence it cannot be decided for sure whether one game (Liubo alone) or two games (Liubo and Xiangqi) are meant. If Xiangqi or one of its predecessors were meant, this would point to an origin in the contending realms period.
A somewhat later reference is found in the Shuo yüan 說宛 ('Collection of explanations', 'Collection of persuasions (shuì yuàn 說苑)', 'Garden of Happiness (yuè yuàn 說苑)') that has been composed in the first century BC. It was presented to the throne in 17 BC by Liu Xiang 劉向 (79-8 BC). Here as well we cannot decide what game the text actually alludes to, as we do not have any extra-textual reference. There remain some doubts about the actual translations of this passage, as an inspection of a larger portion of the text makes other meanings not impossible. The translation given here was chosen as it conveys a hint on chess. …而諂諛。燕則鬥象棋而舞鄭女。…and flatter (.) If you have leisure, then fight at Xiangqi or dance with the women from Zheng(.)…This is in fact the passage quoted in the "Hu Yinglin bicong" and "Qianqueju leishu", the date of origin of the "Shuo yuan" thus backing the hypothesis that Xiangqi stems from the period of the contending realms. What is noteworthy, anyway, is that the combination of the characters Xìang and Qí is quite old. Without difficulty we can trace it back to at least the the late century BC. A still earlier origin is not at all excluded definitely. However, we do not know for sure what kind of game was referred to by this word. It seems not improbable that anyone facing the task to name a new game in later times might have been inspired by these passages.
The eldest extant reference to a game that more closely resembles modern Xiangqi can be found in the "Xuanguai lu 玄怪錄 (‘Tales of the obscure and peculiar’)" by the Tang Minister of State Niu Sengru 牛僧孺 (779-847), a collection of tales of the supernatural. He makes most of his stories appear as if they had previously been orally transmitted. The content of the story "Cen Shun 岑順" in a nutshell is that the impoverished scholar Cen Shun takes up to live in an old house that belongs to one of his relatives. In a dream he is commissioned as military advisor by a messenger. The following nights he helps in the defeat of attackers from a foreign kingdom. When his relatives notice that he has changed they entice him to tell what has happened. They dig up the floor of the room he was sleeping in and find a set-up Xiangxi board in an old grave. These occurrences are dated to the year Baoying 寶應 1, that is 762 AD.
Niu Sengru explicitly lists units of cavalry (tianma 天馬), a general (jiang 將), chariots (ju 車), infantery (jia 甲), and gives clues to catapults (pao 砲) and archers (gong 弓). The existence of these last two types of pieces may be inferred from his mention of arrows and stones flying hence and forth. He does neither elaborate on the number of pieces nor the size of the board, with one exception: he states that the six soldiers (liu jia 六甲) advance in proper array. If we take this as a clue on the number of pawns in the game it becomes clear that this game is not the same as present-day Xiangqi. Furthermore he gives some hints at the move of certain pieces. It is stated that the General moves horizontally into the four (cardinal) directions; the chariots can only advance and do never retreat; the cavalry moves three measures aslant; the pawns move one step ahead. To make it absolutely clear: these moves can be deduced from the text, but not with certainty. The narration goes on to tell of heaps of soldiers rushing east and west, north and south. Thus one could as well come to think that most of the pieces could move into any direction. To distinguish the game described by Niu Sengru from present-day Xiangqi on the one hand and Beizhou Wudis Xiangxi on the other hand this older game is called 'Baoying Xiangqi' in works on Chinese Chess history.
Early East Asian Chess Pieces: An Overview.
1. Xiangqi
From the text one might deduce that once there was a type of Xiangqi that actually used three dimensional pieces. The pieces the story tells about were made of gold. Although the eldest extant version of the text is from the latter half of the 10th century, {The text is included into the collection |Taiping guangji|, 'Gleanings from the era Taiping', compiled 977--978.} there is another text that corroborates the existence of a chess game at the beginning of the 9th century. It is a poem {This poem belongs to the cycle |He chun shen ershi shou|, 'Twenty poems on the quiet in spring'.} written by Niu's contemporary and friend Bo Juyi (772-846), that mentions Xiangqi and other board games. But alas, it doesn't give particulars on the pieces. So there is a slight possibility that there might be three-dimensional Xiangqi pieces dating from the 9th or 10th century somewhere. Needless to say that a properly documented find of a set of such pieces would be quite a sensation.
From that time on there is no further mention of the possibility of three-dimensional pieces.{With one exception: in the early 12th century text |Pingzhou ketan|, 'Leisurely talks from Pingzhou', chess-playing 'foreigners', most likely Persian or Arabian merchants, are mentioned. Their pieces were described as 'unlike Horse and Chariot [the Xiangqi pieces, P.B.]; all pieces are made from ivory, rhinoceros horn, and aloes wood'. To my knowledge no such pieces have ever been found.}
The oldest Xiangqi game of which we have a complete description of is the so-called |Qiguo Xiangqi| ('Seven Realms-Xiangqi') which is played on a board with 19 by 19 lines, and uses 120 pieces: one General, one Commander, one Colonel, one Diplomat, one Catapult, one unit of Archers, one unit of Crossbowmen, two units of Swordsmen, four units of Broad Swordsmen, and four units of Cavalry each. It was created (or propagated) by Sima Guang (1019--1086). We do not know of a single set of pieces for this game, nor do we know whether it was played at all. Most likely the pieces for this game were shaped like these for ordinary modern Xiangqi, but there would have to be pieces that aren't found in ordinary Xiangqi.
The earliest set we know of was found in 1984 near Anxi in Jiangxi province. By sheer coincidence a wooden box was found that contained 32 copper pieces: two Generals, four Ministers, four Chariots, four Horses, four Elephants, four Cannons, and ten Soldiers. They were divided into two sides through different colours (red/black); the discs had characters on one side and pictures on the other. The two Ministers of each side were differentiated through two slightly different characters; we don't presently know for what purpose, if any. The discs were about 3.8 cm wide and 7 mm thick. From coins that were found alongside they could be dated to the era Chongning (1102-1106) during the Northern Song Dynasty (960--1126).{The find is described in Zhang Ru'an, Zhongguo xiangqishi ('A History of Chinese Chess'), Beijing 1991, p105. I could not find another description nor pictures of these pieces.}
A similar full set of copper pieces, dated to the same period, was unearthed in Kaifeng. They, too, were inscribed with Chinese characters on one side, and bore pictures on the other side. The pieces were smaller (2.0--3.0 cm), and the ministers were not differentiated.{Pictures of these pieces in Li Songfu, Xiangqi shihua ('Talks on the History of Chinese Chess´), Beijing 1981, p60-61.}
A third similar set (copper pieces) ...
A fourth (full) set of similar pieces was found in Inner Mongolia in 1954 These pieces are made from bronze; the are inscribed on one side and engraved on the other side as well. From an inscribed piece of wood that was found in the same context they were dated to about 1270.{A description and pictures in |Nei Menggu chutu wenwu xuanji| ('A selection of cultural relics unearthed in Inner Mongolia', Wenwu chubanshe (ed.), Beijing 1963, p123, fig. 165.} It is well later than the other sets but its form is very similar, so I included it here.
All these sets are cast (not minted or really engraved), it seems they have been finished to remove grates, and the two sides are usually differentiated by colours (red and black or green).
2. Changgi
Next to nothing is known about the early history and development of Changgi. It just appears in existence, out of nothing, during the latter half of the 16th century. The first mention is ... Yu Hûi-ch'un (1513--1577) played Sanggi (Written with the Chinese characters for Xiangqi (first characters means 'Elephant'), whereas in Changgi the first characters means 'General'} against his acquaintance Kim Yo. We do not even know what kind of chess (Xiangqi or Changgi?) these two played.
In the next mention, an essay by Chang Yu (1587--1638) {Printed in |Kyegok chip|, ('Collected Works of Kyegok'), Seoul 1982, p53-54; English translation in |Chess. Chang Yoo (1587—1638 AD), with comments by the editor|, in: Korea Magazine, Vol. 2 (1918), p5--9.}, we get a full description of the game, and lo and behold! it is absolutely identical to the modern game. It's a pity he didn't say anything on the shape of and materials used for the pieces.
The 16th century author Sim Su-kyông (1516-1599) finally describes the materials that were used to make Changgi pieces. in his work |Kyônham chamnok| ('Different notes to pass the time'){Reprinted in |Richo kakushu bunken fûzoku kankei shiryô satsuyô| ('Compilation of materials on anthropology from various literary sources of the Yi dynasty [1392--1910]'), Chôsen Sôtokufu Chûsuin (ed.), Keijô 1944, p1121-1122.} According to him Changgi pieces were mainly made from wood, with carved characters that are filled with paint or lacquer.
3. Shogi
As I will hopefully be able to point out, Japanese Shôgi players have from early times on thought about the quality of their pieces. Thus it shouldn't be a surprise that the eldest known text that mentions Shôgi{ This text is the |Kirinshô| ('Notes on the Kirin [a mythical beast]'), written by Fujiwara no Yukinari (972--1027), reprinted e.g. in: |Zoku gunshô ruijô| ('Continued assorted writings'), vol. 31.2, Tokyo 1926, p190.} deals with the proper way to inscribe Shôgi pieces. The text makes it clear that from the early 11th century on the pieces were quite small (it is recommended to put them into a holder), that they were inscribed with ink, that the upper side which gives the unpromoted rank of piece is to be inscribed in regular characters, and that the lower side which gives the promoted rank should be inscribed in flowing ('grass') script.
The oldest extant pieces are dated 1058. These have been found in 1993 during a dig at the Kôfukuji in Nara, the then capital of Japan.{The find is presented in |Nara Kôfukuji kyûkeidai| ('On the old grounds of the Kôfukuji in Nara'), in: Mokkan kenkyû ('Studies in inscribed wood') Vol. 16 (1994), p26--30. --- It seems safe to conclude that these pieces really are shôgi pieces, as no other idea could possibly explain the design and inscriptions of the pieces found there.} They have the same shape as modern pieces (elongated pentagonal wedges). The material is Hinoki wood (Japanese cypress). --- We don't actually know for what Shôgi variant these pieces were used, but is it widely assumed that they belonged to one of the Heian-Shôgi games.
The first text that sort of describes Shôgi games is the |Nichûreki| ('From the two chûreki') from about 1230.{Nichûreki, esp ch. 13, in: Shiseki shûran ('Collected mirrors of historical materials'), 43 vols, vol. 5, p250.---The two Chûreki are two small history works from the earlier 12th century.} The first game it describes is a small variant known as |Heian-Shô-Shôgi| ('Small Shôgi of the Heian period [794--1185]') with six different kinds of pieces (King, Gold General, Silver General, Knight, Lance, and Pawn), the second is the |Heian-Dai-Shôgi| ('Large Shôgi of the Heian period') with 13 different pieces (all of the above plus Copper General, Iron General, Side Mover, Wild Tiger, Flying Dragon, Free Chariot, and Go-Between).
(2021. 8. 1)
