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The game of xiangqi (elephant or figural game) has been
played in China since the end of the Northern Song period (960–1127).
It uses thirty-two disc-shaped pieces in two opposing “armies,”
which move on the intersecting points of a grid on a board that
is nine by eight squares on a side. Like chess, xiangqi
is a game of displacement. As in chess, the objective is to capture
or eliminate the opponent’s pieces, culminating in the capture
of the opposing general. The similarities with chess are significant:
not only is the number of pieces the same, but some of them have
similar movements. The chariot (ju), for example, moves
in exactly the same fashion as the rook; the horse (ma)
moves in an L-shaped manner like the knight; and the elephant (xiang)
moves diagonally like the bishop.
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Xiangqi folding board
China; 18th century
Huanghuali wood with brass inlay; approx. 38.1 x 30.5 cm
Polumbaum Collection, 0012
Photograph by Risa Korris |