The Origin of Chinese Chess
中国象棋的起源
Xiangqi is evolved from an ancient Chinese game called liubo,which was invented some 3 500 years ago. It is said that it was invented by King Zhou of the Zhou Dynasty. In early times,xiangqi was also called“xiangxi”， the Elephant Games. There are two possible reasons. First of all, the game pieces of general and soldiers in liubo were made of ivory and so called xiangqi,xiang meaning “elephant”. Secondly,Chinese were known to incorporate elephants in military battles. The legendary Huang Di of 4,000 years ago allegedly had a fleet of elephants in his army, and it is recorded that elephants were used in combats during the Han Dynasty.
象棋起源于中国古代的游戏六博，约有3500多年的历史。据说，这是周代的纣王发明的。在很早的时候，中国象棋也被称为“象戏”，大象游戏。有两个可能的原因。首先，游戏人物的将军和士兵在六博里是由象牙制成，所以被称为象棋，象意为“大象”。其次，中国人把大象纳入军事斗争。传说中的黄帝在 4000年前，据称在他的军队有大象舰队，它记录了大象在汉代参与搏斗。
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