Making Sense of Elephant Chess
Understanding the terms from Chinese Chess or “Xiangqi”
In parks across mainland China, it’s not uncommon to see retirees practising Chinese opera, taiqi, or playing chess or go. But the chess that they are playing is not on a 8x8 black and white board with kings, queens, rooks, knights, bishops, and pawns — but on a 9x10 grid with generals, advisors, elephants, horses, chariots, cannons, and soldiers.
This variant of chess, which is popular across East Asia, is known as 象棋 (xiàngqí) in Mandarin, 샹치 (Syangchi) in Korean, Shōgi in Japanese, and as cờ tướng (General’s Chess) in Vietnamese.
The first character 象 (xiàng) is a pictograph showing the trunk (at the very top), the head(the rectangle in the middle) and the body (legs and tail at the bottom). The second character 棋 (qí) is used for any non-card board game — for example, Go (围棋, wéiqí) or Othello (黑白棋, Hēibáiqí). So 象棋 (xiàngqí), literally means ‘elephant board game’ or Elephant Chess.
In contrast to international chess 国际象棋 (guójì xiàngqí), which has black and white pieces given the same names, Elephant Chess has black and red pieces, where the equivalent pieces on different sides have different characters, and usually different pronunciations.
Here they are:
General and Marshall (jiāng and shuài)
The Black General is 將 (jiāng, 将 in simplified Chinese). The character is most commonly seen today as verb meaning ‘will’, but in military and chess terms, it is a noun meaning ‘general’. The word for Checkmate is 将死, where 死 (sǐ) is the word for death.
The Red Marshall is 帥 (shuài, 帅 in simplified Chinese). The word is most common today meaning handsome, for example, a handsome guy can be called a 帅哥 shuàigē. But its original meaning is to command or to lead, or as a noun, the commander or marshal in an army.
Scholar and Official (shì)
The Black Advisor is 士 (shì), meaning “scholar”, an individual who was educated, literate, and often involved in scholarly pursuits. The term “士” is associated with the Confucian idea of a cultured and morally upright person.
The Red Official is 仕 (shì) — the same pronunciation as the word above, with an extra written component meaning ‘person’, and an extra meaning focusing designating a bureaucratic position.
Elephant and Chancellor (xiàng)
The Black Elephant is 象 (xiàng). In international chess, the Chinese name for the Bishop piece is also 象 (xiàng).
The Red Chancellor 相 (xiàng). It is pronounced in the same way as elephant, but has a completely different meaning. Historically, in China the Grand Chancellor 宰相 (zǎixiàng) was the highest-ranking official serving the Emperor. Today, 首相 (shǒuxiàng) remains the common translation for Prime Minister. On its own, the character 相 xiàng is also used to mean ‘jointly’ or ‘mutually’. For example, the idiom 相依为命 (xiāng yī wéi mìng) means to depend on each other for survival.
Horse (mǎ and mà)
The black horse 馬 (mǎ, simplified to 马) is the standard word for horse, as well as being the word for knight in international chess. It is also a surname, and commonly provides the “ma” sound in transliteration of foreign names, for example, 马克思 (Mǎkèsī, “Marx”). One of the most popular Chinese idioms 马马虎虎, “mǎmǎhūhū,” literally means “horse horse tiger tiger,” suggesting a mix of animals without a clear distinction — to describe a situation where things are acceptable but not outstanding.
The red horse 傌 (mà, simplified to 㐷) is pronounced with a different tone, but primarily just means today, the red horse in Elephant Chess. In the Han Dynasty (206 BCE–220 CE) a word meaning to expose and insult — ‘Now, from the nobility of princes and marquises, to the common people, the same laws of branding, cutting, shaving, amputation, flogging, exposing and insulting, and execution are applied’. But today the word 罵 (mà, simplified to 骂) would be used instead.
Chariot (chē)
The black chariot 車 (chē, simplified to 车), is originally a pictogram of a chariot shown from above — and today, is the standard word for ‘car’, or any land vehicle. In International Chess, this is the Mandarin word for the rook, except that it is pronounced jū rather than chē in that context.
The red chariot 俥 (chē, simplified to 伡), like the red horse, primarily just means the red chariot in Elephant Chess.
Canon (pào)
The black cannon 砲 (pào) refers to a large-caliber firearm or heavy artillery used in warfare. The left-hand side of the character 石 shows a stone.
The red cannon 炮 (pào) includes fire 火 on the left, and is used more commonly not just for artillery, but also firearms (枪炮, qiāng pào) and firecrackers (鞭炮, biān pào).
Pawns (zú, bīng）
The black soldier 卒 (zú), is an enlisted soldier or a lower-ranking military personnel.
The red soldier 兵 (bīng) also means “soldier” or to military forces in a more general sense. Unlike the red 仕 (official), 㐷 (horse) and 伡 (chariot) which are much less common characters than their black equivalents, the character 兵 is a lot more commonly used in Modern Chinese (ranked 398th in terms of character frequency) compared 卒 (ranked 2584).
From the intricate characters representing each piece to the distinctive names for the generals, advisors, elephants, horses, chariots, cannons, and soldiers, Elephant Chess reflects not only a strategic battlefield but also the cultural depth of the Chinese language. The distinction between black and red pieces in Elephant Chess, each with its own unique characters and pronunciations, adds a further layer of complexity that sets this version apart from its international counterpart.
If you liked this article, then the linguistic roots of International Chess terms may also interest you.
