Was chess invented according to Liu Bang's siege of Xiang Yu?

Chess was not invented according to Liu Bang's siege of Xiang Yu.

Chess was formed as early as the Warring States Period, even earlier than the Qin and Han Dynasties, so the invention of chess had nothing to do with the hegemony between Chu and Han. On the other hand, chess has experienced a long development process, and it was not until the Song Dynasty that it was basically finalized. The chessboard we are playing now has the words "Chu River" and "Han boundary", which can be sure that the development of chess has a certain relationship with the hegemony between Chu and Han.

The following is the origin and development of China chess:

The word chess first appeared in the Warring States Period. There is a special record of its shape and play in "Chu Ci Evocation": "There are six books in chess; Go hand in hand with the camp, and the road is forced; When you become a cockroach, you will seek it and you will be white. " This means that jade (that is, a grate) is equivalent to dice.

(that is, the cover) is the size of chess, with 6 * * * on each side; The way to compete is to divide Cao and advance together.

(referring to two teams or two teams must fight), attack each other and force each other to death; Finally, the winner seeks victory. Defeat enemy soldiers (five men in the military system in the Spring and Autumn Period)

And gave a cheer of victory. "Shuo Yuan" also records that Qin Yi, Zizhou, Yong Men, met Meng Changjun and said, "The first step is the king of a thousand times ... Yan Dou Qi dances Zheng Nv." In other words, to persuade Meng, it is better to play chess and watch songs and dances, just like "Yan State".

There are many theories about the origin of chess:

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."

On-the-spot explanation of chess match II. The Yellow Emperor originated from the legendary era. In the Northern Song Dynasty, Huang Bu's Preface to Guang xiang opera said, "Like a soldier, the battle of the Yellow Emperor drove away animals and thought that the array was like an elephant, and the animals were heroes. Therefore, soldiers are named after elephants. "

Third, the attack originated from Zhou Wuwang. Ming metabolism "Five Miscellaneous Groups" said: "Like a play, it is said that it was made during the cutting week, that is, the flow of the Warring States military strategists and the battle of heavy vehicles."

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."

5. Originated in Shun period, it is said that Shun's half-brother is called Xiang, lazy and playful. He invented chess.

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.

So 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. Chess may also be named after the chess pieces are made of ivory.

In early China chess, the chess system consisted of three instruments: chess, chopsticks and chessboard. The two sides play chess, with six players on each side, namely: owl, Lu, pheasant, calf and stopper (two pieces). The chess pieces are carved with ivory. Bam, equivalent to dice, must be thrown before playing chess. The chessboard is a square chessboard. During the competition, "throw six fingers and play six chess games", fight wits and fight bravely, attack and persecute each other and kill each other. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the military system consisted of five men, one handsome man and six men. At that time, as a military training football match, there were also 6 people on each side. It can be seen that early chess was a game symbolizing the fighting at that time. On the basis of this chess system, a kind of chess called "Sai" appeared later, which only played chess without throwing chopsticks, and got rid of the element of winning by luck in early chess.

Development of past dynasties

During the Qin and Han Dynasties, ancient chess was quite popular, and it was also called "Wu Ge" at that time. 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.

During the Three Kingdoms period, the shape of chess was constantly changing, and it had a communication relationship with India. 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.

During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, chess activities were carried out steadily, which was frequently recorded in history books. Among them, the most important is the narration of Wu Zetian's dream chess in the Shiliju series "Liang Gong Jiu Jian" and the story of Censhun's dream chess in the first year of Baoying (AD 762) in Niu Senru's "The Record of Mysteries".

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. By the Tang Dynasty, great changes had taken place in China's chess. There are four arms of "general, horse, chariot and pawn", which are composed of 64 black and white squares. Later, referring to China's Go, I changed 64 squares to 90 points.

In the Song Dynasty, China's chess was basically stereotyped. Due to the invention of gunpowder, guns, scholars and elephants were added. That is, on the basis of using Jiugong chessboard, other kinds of chess pieces were absorbed and borrowed, and three of them were upgraded to one scholar and two cannons to meet the tastes of the people at that time. In addition, there are 32 blameless "Guangqi" in Song Chao, which is the same as the total number of modern chess pieces, but I wonder if there is a river boundary on the chessboard. During the Song and Yuan Dynasties, the stone forest "Guangji" published two overall works of 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.

In the Ming Dynasty, the word "general" was changed to "handsome" for the convenience of playing chess and remembering. In addition, many chess books were published in Ming and Qing Dynasties, especially Xu Zhi's Leisure and Elegant Interest in Ming Dynasty, Zhu Jinzhen's Secret in Orange, Wang Zaiyue's Plum Blossom Spring in Qing Dynasty, Zhang Qiaodong's Xiang Le in Zhuxiangzhai and so on.

Modern mode

After nearly a hundred years of practice, chess was shaped into a modern model at the end of the Northern Song Dynasty: 32 pieces, a chessboard with a river boundary, and so on. 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.

Modern chess

Today, China chess has spread to more than ten countries and regions. Japanese and Philippine also established China Qi Xiang Association.

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.