Xiangqi (/ˈʃɑːŋtʃi/; Chinese: 象棋; pinyin: xiàngqí), commonly known as Chinese chess or elephant chess, is a strategy board game for two players. It is the most popular board game in China. Xiangqi is in the same family of games as shogi, janggi, Western chess, chaturanga, and Indian chess. Besides China and areas with significant ethnic Chinese communities, this game is also a popular pastime in Vietnam, where it is known as cờ tướng, literally ‘General’s chess’, in contrast with Western chess or cờ vua, literally ‘King’s chess’.
it’s very common in China for a couple people to be playing xiangqi at a stone table in the park and 20 or 30 observers standing around them in a hushed circle, letting out considered grunts or even surprised exclamations at a particularly stunning move.
in “quartier asiatique” I’ve seen people doing that with dominos, but never this game. As a “homo ludens”, i should have heard about this game a long time ago 🙈
game on!
the book sounds good, thanks I’ve never heard of the phrase or book before.