In ancient China, chess was listed as the art of self-cultivation of literati. Now, it is considered as a beneficial activity, which can refresh the mind and improve intelligence. Hundreds of millions of fans. It can not only enrich cultural life and cultivate sentiment, but also help to develop intelligence, enlighten thinking, exercise dialectical analysis ability and cultivate tenacious will. China chess is an antagonistic game in which two players take turns to win by "killing" or "trapping" their opponents. In the game, the player who holds the red chess goes first, and both sides take turns to take one step each, until the game is over. In chess, people can improve their thinking ability from the changes of complex relationships such as attack and defense, reality, whole and part.
China chess has a long history, moderate difficulty, simple and easy-to-understand basic rules, suitable for all ages, rich and delicate changes, and the characters on the board all reflect China culture.
Ethnicity
Origin dispute
According to ancient cultural relics and documents, Chatulanka developed into Chastelain Zi in Khosrau I Anushirvan, Persia, and was introduced to China as an elephant play through the Silk Road in the Northern Zhou Dynasty. It became Baoying chess in the Tang Dynasty and was finally transformed into China chess by China people in the Song Dynasty. Some Soviet scholars published articles, trying to refute the Indian origin theory. 1972 Yugoslav historian bijiv's monograph "chess-a symbol of the universe" draws the conclusion that chess first appeared in China in 569 AD, and then gradually spread. But it was later proved that Bijifu was wrong, because the earliest board game Chatulanka was recorded and unearthed in Indian literature three centuries ago. Yan Shu's Lei Yao records that chess was introduced to China in the early years of Wei and Huang Dynasties in the Three Kingdoms. The shape of chess is constantly changing. The origin of India is still the main theory in the world. Chess has a long history in China.
Opinions of all parties
As for when chess originated, it is difficult for academic circles to form a unified opinion because the historical records are not detailed enough and there are many myths and legends.
First, Shennong originated from the legendary era. Monks in the Yuan Dynasty often said in the Biography of Buddhism: "Shennong takes the sun, moon and stars as images, and cattle, monks and children in the Tang Dynasty replaced them with chariots, horses, scholars and soldiers with guns."
Second, the Yellow Emperor originated from the legendary era. Huang Bu's Preface to Guang xiang opera in the Northern Song Dynasty said: "Elephants play soldiers, and the battle of the Yellow Emperor drives away animals to think of the array, and elephants and animals are heroes. Therefore, soldiers are named after elephants. "
Third, the attack originated from Zhou Wuwang. Wu Zatan, a metabolic system in the Ming Dynasty, said: "It is like a play, and it is said that it was made by Wu Zhou during the cutting, that is, it was not only the flow of the Warring States military strategists, but also the battle of heavy trucks at that time."
Fourth, it originated in the Warring States period. The book of seclusion contains: Zhou said:' If you step in Yanzhou first, you will be able to play chess, which is also a matter of the Warring States. "The Warring States used soldiers, so people used the image of war as a chess position."
Fifth, it originated from the period of Emperor Wu of the Northern Zhou Dynasty. "Taiping Yu Lan. "Craft Division Chess" said: "Emperor Wu of Zhou made chess." The Yuan of the Ming Dynasty also holds this view.
6. At the beginning of this century, William Jones, an Englishman, said that China is not an elephant-producing country, but India is an elephant-producing country. He believes that China chess was introduced from India, and modern scholar Hu Shi also holds this view.
Many scholars believe that according to reliable records in ancient books, chess was popular in the Warring States period. Han and Liu not only quoted the book of seclusion, but also recorded the story of playing chess in the Warring States period: "The first step of a swallow is to play chess, which is also a matter of using troops." There is also a saying in the evocation works of Chu ci in the warring States period that "the chess is thin and six points." All these show that "chess" has become a routine activity during the Warring States period. Therefore, some scholars believe that chess came into being before the Warring States Period. But when? Some people think that it can be pushed back to the Spring and Autumn Period, and chess was produced by imitating the military system at that time. Their basis is that the "image" in chess means "symbol" and has nothing to do with animal images. For example, dancing symbolizes fighting, so it is called "elephant dance", and playing chess symbolizes fighting, so it is called "chess". The names of chess players also come from symbols of different arms. This situation coincides with the military system in the Spring and Autumn Period, that is, the arrow is on the string, handsome, car, horse, scholar, soldier and pawn. Therefore, the emergence of chess in the Spring and Autumn Period was in line with the historical situation at that time. However, some scholars disagree with this statement and think that this kind of competition is still an inference.
The development of chess can be divided into seven periods, namely, gestation period, childhood period, competition period, climax period, ebb and flow period, peak period and stable period. Legend has it that its ancestor was Bo Yi, a chess player, with six uncles. Cao Cao is neck and neck, and each pursues his own. Be an owl and look for it. Call for five days. Kun is a jade, but also a chess cover. It was here that the word chess was first used to refer to Liu Bo. Of course, the shape of chess is completely different from that of Liu Bo. Liubo is a game that wins by throwing and picking chess corners, while chess is a competitive sport that relies on ingenuity, skill and cultivation. Because Liu Bo had a certain relationship with later Xiang Jing, the word chess gave birth to the future chess. Therefore, the period from the birth of chess terms to the formulation of Xiang Jing by Emperor Wu of the Southern and Northern Dynasties is called the gestation period of chess.
Warring States period
There was a name for chess in the Warring States period, but it refers to six pieces made of ivory. For example, in "Chu Ci Evocation", there are six books and chess; Cao Cao goes hand in hand, forcing each other; When you become a cockroach, you will seek it and you will be white. "Shuo Yuan" contains: Yong Zhoujian said: "The first step is Wang Qian, ... Yan Douqi dances Zheng Nv. Therefore, as early as the Warring States period, Liubo became popular among the nobles. Liu Bodang was born in the clan area around the Zhou Dynasty (BC 1 1 century) in southern China. The chess system consists of three instruments: chess, chopsticks and chessboard. Both sides play chess, and each side has six pieces. It is said that there are many kinds of chess pieces: owl, Lu, pheasant, calf and stopper (two pieces). However, ancient cultural relics prove that Liu Boqi's son is not multi-armed, which is due to the confusion of Sui Pu's mistakes. Owl, deer, pheasant, calf and plug are the permutation and combination of throwing tools, not weapons. The chess pieces are carved with ivory. Bam, equivalent to dice, must be thrown before playing chess. The chessboard is a square chessboard. Liu Bo, on the other hand, "throws six moves and plays six games of chess", fighting wits and attacking each other in order to win one more game, which is different from eating Wang Weisheng's chess and has no evolutionary relationship. Just as Qiu Chuji and Wu Cheng'en both wrote The Journey to the West with the same name, Liu Bo and China have the same name only once.
Qin and Han dynasties
Later, a board game called "Sai" appeared, but it had nothing to do with chess. During the Qin and Han Dynasties, Sai Opera was quite popular, and it was also called "Wu Ge". The chessboard unearthed from the Western Han Tomb in Yunmeng, Hubei Province and the painted wooden figurines unearthed from the Mo Zuizi Han Tomb in Wuwei, Gansu Province can reflect the description of the shape of Sai Opera in Bian Shao's Sai Fu in the Han Dynasty. Liu Bo, Cisse and Chess are completely different in rules, pieces and chessboards, and there is no evolutionary relationship between them.
Northern Zhou Dynasty (557-58 1)
Chess was first called elephant play, which came from the Northern Zhou Dynasty, meaning symbolic game. By the Southern and Northern Dynasties and the Northern Zhou Dynasty, Emperor Wudi (reigned in 56 1 ~ 578) wrote Xiang Jing, while Wang Bao wrote Xiang Xu and Xiang Jing Fu, marking the completion of the second major reform of chess. After Emperor Wu of Zhou Dynasty, according to the chess series Xiang Jing at that time, there were images of the sun, the moon and the stars, so it was named Xiang Xi, which was called Xiang Xi in the Northern Zhou Dynasty. Later, Baoying chess evolved into an eight-by-eight black-and-white chessboard with a three-dimensional shape in the Tang Dynasty. The interpretation of the book "Buddhist Collection" (Volume 222) shows that "those who started with chariots, horses, generals and soldiers instead of the sun, the moon and the stars are all different, but only cows, monks and sons."
Sui and Tang Dynasties
Chess invented by Emperor Yuwen Yong of the Northern Zhou Dynasty.
During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, chess activities were carried out steadily, which was frequently recorded in history books, the most important of which was a story about Censhun's dream of chess in the first year of Baoying (AD 762) in Niu Sen as a Mystery Record. Combining Suzhou brocade with four patterns of "Qin, Qi, Shu and Hua" and bronze chess pieces with figures painted on the back unearthed in Kaifeng, Henan, we can draw the conclusion that the shape of chess in Tang Dynasty is quite similar to that of early chess. The popularity of chess at that time can be seen from many records in poetry legends. The three-volume version of Xiang Bo Xiang's Opera Song may be a work of the Tang Dynasty.
It is a misinformation to claim that Wu Zetian dreamed of playing chess with Luo Shen. According to the sixth suggestion in the supplement of the History of the Tang Dynasty, Wu Zetian dreamed of playing backgammon in the novels Nine Swords in the Song and Yuan Dynasties, Di Zhuan, Tian Zhongji and Lei Xin. Wuhou asked the emperor, "I dreamed of landing with people last night, but I didn't always win." Why? " "Yes," said the losers on both sides of the land, "it is God's will that he has no son in the palace. Take this as a symbol of your majesty's concern. Can Anke keep his seat empty for a long time? "
Song dynasty
Modern chess style was not formed until the Song Dynasty. Cheng Hao, a Neo-Confucianist in the Song Dynasty, wrote a poem about chess: "Most chess is a play, like turning over a play to learn how to fight. There are also Zhou's famous works in chariots and horses, all of which have official Chinese names. The Han army is heavy on all sides, but it is light outside the river, but it laughs at itself with its wrinkles, like Liu Xiang. " There was no mention of guns in his poems, and he was the last one to join. Of course, it was only after China invented gunpowder and firearms that it was reflected in chess. The Song Dynasty was an era when chess was widely popular, and its form also changed greatly. During the Northern Song Dynasty, Sima Guang's Elephant Drama in Seven Countries, His Elephant Drama Style and Chess, Chao's Elephant Drama Map and other works came out one after another, and Elephant Drama was also deeply loved by the people.
At that time, there were elephant play and elephant play in chess in the Northern Song Dynasty, both of which had cannon pieces. As big as playing modern chess, there are 32 pieces, and the size of the disk is set to vertical 10 and horizontal 9. The general lives in the Nine Palaces, and there is no scholar, so he is given two pieces. After that, chess became more popular, and many literati loved it, and chess players became a profession.
It was not until the Southern Song Dynasty that the word chess began to refer to China chess. By the Southern Song Dynasty, Xiangxi had become a form of chess. The generals stayed at the bottom of Jiugong, and there were already scholars. Chen recorded the earliest two complete sets of chess and the oldest arrangement "Two Dragons Going to Sea".
After nearly a hundred years of practice, chess became a modern pattern at the end of the Northern Song Dynasty: 32 pieces, 1 general in black and 65,438 generals in red, 2 chariots, horses, cannons, elephants and scholars, and 5 soldiers. During the Southern Song Dynasty, chess became a household name and a very popular chess activity. Writers such as Li Qingzhao and Liu Kezhuang, politicians such as Hong Zun and Wen Tianxiang all like playing chess. In the "chess to be called" formulated by the court, players account for more than half. There are professionals called "chess players" and craftsmen who play autocratic chess and chessboards. In the Southern Song Dynasty, Hong Mai's Chess Classic, Chen's Chess Manual and Chen's Guang Ji also appeared.
Yuan Ming Qing dynasty
During the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, chess continued to be popular among the people, and the technical level was constantly improved, and a number of summative theoretical monographs appeared, among which the most important ones were Dream in Dream, Eighteen Changes of Jin Peng, The Secret in Orange, Shu Ya, Plum Blossom Music, Zhuxiangzhai Chess Manual and so on. Scholars such as Yang Shen, Tang Yin, Lang Ying, Luo Qi and Yuan Mei all like playing chess. The emergence of a large number of famous chess players shows that chess is loved by people from all walks of life.
The new China was founded.
After the founding of New China, chess entered a new stage of development. From 65438 to 0956, chess became a national sport. Since then, national competitions have been held almost every year. 1962 The China Qi Xiang Association, a subsidiary of the All-China Sports Federation, was established, and corresponding subordinate associations were also established in various places. Over the past 40 years, due to the promotion of mass chess activities and competitions, the level of chess has improved rapidly, and outstanding players have emerged, among which the most famous players are Yang Guanlin, Hu Ronghua, Liu Dahua, Zhao Guorong, Li Laiqun, Lv Qin and Xu Yinchuan.
The four major chess games in the world (Weiqi, China Chess, Chess and General Chess) are all related to the political system of this country. The political system reflected by chess is the feudal society in China, and it is almost a microcosm-there are Zhang Zhongjun (Jiugong), Wei Shi (scholar, official), civil servants (that is, the elephant and face of China chess are not allowed to cross the river), military commanders (cars, horses, guns) and soldiers (soldiers, soldiers).
In order to promote the popularization and promotion of this project in the world, on February 23rd, 2009, according to the official reply of the State Sports General Administration, it was agreed to change the English translation of "China Chess" to "Chess".