Is Chinese Chess Older Than Chess？

In a way, it's a common question that many people have: is Chinese chess older than the chess that you grew up with in the West? It is a topic that historians, chess lovers and everyone else can debate passionately. Yes, Chinese chess (Xiangqi) has been previously written about more than international chess, but there's more to it than just a “which came first?” question. Let's look at the evidence, the timetables and what the experts agree.

The Earliest Written Record: China Takes the Lead.

The earliest existing literary mention of a game called “chess” can be found in ancient Chinese literature. The Chu Ci (Songs of Chu), by the poet Qu Yuan (circa 340-278 BCE), has a passage which reads: “Kunbi xiangqi, you liubo xie”—meaning “Kunbi, play the board game of ‘xiangqi,' and you, the Xie.” It is this that put the word “xiangqi” into written records as early as 300 BC, or the 4th century before the Common Era.

For perspective, in the time of this writing, the Roman Republic was still just a fledgling and international chess – the game we now call Chess – was not even to be conceived for 800 years.

This is, however, with a proviso. “xiangqi” of the Chu Ci is not the same game that is played now. It was thought to describe a type of game, using ivory pieces, called the “xiangqi”, or “elephant game”. It was a forerunner not the modern-day Xiangqi. However, it has a long tradition of strategy board games in China of more than 2000 years.

Other textual evidence may be found in the Shuo Yuan (Garden of Sayings), a collection of Confucian anecdotes compiled by Liu Xiang (79-8 BCE) in which the mention of playing xiangqi and dancing is a favourite hobby of the nobility. The fact that these references all show the existence of some predecessor to a chess-like game before the Common Era reinforces that idea that a game of this nature was already part of Chinese culture in the distant past.

The Indian Connection is a presentation of the Chaturanga and the Indian 6th century.

The game is thought to have originated in India during the Gupta Empire (ca. 5th-6th century CE) as a game called chaturanga, and the sport has spread throughout the world from there. It translates literally in Sanskrit as “chaturanga” which denotes the four limbs of the ancient Indian military, namely infantry, cavalry, elephant and chariots.

The earliest literary mention of chaturanga is in the Harshacharita (7th century), the biography of King Harsha written by the poet Banabhatta. The game was introduced in Sassanid Persia (westward from India) under the name chatrang, and subsequently in the Islamic world as shatranj. The rules of chess were not completed until the 15th century when the powerful queen, the bishop's diagonal movements and the rules of castling were established.

A Tale of Two Timelines

Let us put the key milestones side by side in a clear comparison:

The data is clear: on written records alone, Chinese chess predates international chess’s predecessor by roughly 700–800 years.

It goes downhill from there.

When the answers appear simple, what's the big controversy? For origin and lineage are two distinct things.

Most scholars believe that Xiangqi and international chess are related, with the Indian game chaturanga being the original common ancestor. This theory suggests that chaturanga was disseminated in two directions: westward, to Persia and Europe where it was known as international chess; and eastward, along the Silk Road to China, where it became known as Xiangqi.

If this theory turns out to be true, then international chess and Chinese chess are not the father and the son, but brothers, and their common father is later than the earliest reference of chess in Chinese texts of the Warring States. This is a paradox, however, because if the game was based on a 6th century game in India, then why did it have references to “xiangqi” in the 4th century BCE?

There are other theories, however, that challenge the consensus.Other theories, however, go against the consensus.

The Indian‑origin story is not accepted by all historians. The Genealogy of Chess author David H. Li claims that an older game, called liubo, was played in China in 203 BCE, when one of the great generals, Han Xin, adapted the game, influenced by the strategic advice given in the ancient Chinese book of The Art of War by Sun Tzu. Then Li goes on to theorise Xiangqi (or its predecessor) went westwards, via the Silk Road, to Persia and India, and developed into chaturanga and shatranj. This would turn the typical story on its head.

Other scholars make it clear that there are weaknesses to the Indian-origin theory, too. German chess historian Peter Banaschak has remarked that the support for Li's hypothesis is “based on virtually nothing,” however early as the Tang Dynasty minister Niu Sengru (779-847 CE), the first reliable sources for Xiangqi relate to the game with texts, and the earliest detailed description of the game does not appear until approximately a millennium later.

The excavations tell us about the evidence, and they are of great archaeological value.

While it is good to have written records, it's even better to have physical artifacts. Some archaeologists in Chongqing, China, found the pottery chess piece in the tomb complex of Laoguanqiu in 2001, and it contains a character for “chariot” (che). The piece is from the Eastern Han Dynasty (25–220 CE) which is almost 400 years prior to the earliest Indian mention of chaturanga. This finding was a step back of more than 700 years in the dating of the early physical evidence for chess in China.

Although a single piece of pottery doesn't decide the issue of origin, it does offer tangible evidence that the game of chess was being played in China during the early centuries of the Common Era, if not earlier than the earliest proof in India.

Invented and developed in the 18th century, the cannon was a Chinese innovation that has never been seen in Europe.

Another thing which is unique to Xiangqi and not seen in chaturanga or early international chess is the cannon (pao) piece, one of the strongest arguments for the independent development of the game in China. The cannon is only able to capture by jumping over another piece, but can move like a rook. It has been suggested that it may be a reflection of gunpowder and artillery being used in Chinese warfare for the first time, and so its appearance dates from the Tang (618-907 CE) or Song (960-1279 CE) Dynasty.

The cannon's inclusion in Xiangqi and the slow introduction of other pieces such as the shi (advisor) and xiang (elephant) indicate that Chinese chess had continued to develop separately from any possible influence from India long after the possible Indian introduction. The game was mostly in its modern shape by the Song Dynasty, which included the river, the palace and the 9×10 grid.

Therefore, which is the older?

This is because this answer will vary based on the definition of “chess.”

In terms of which game had written records the longer are clearly Chinese chess, which are roughly 700–800 years older.

When asked which game is the direct ancestor of which game, the evidence suggests chaturanga in India circa 6th century CE, although Chinook's liubo games are older, at least.

If you are asking which modern set of rules was finalized first, however, Chinese chess again takes the lead as its modern form was largely determined by the Song Dynasty (10th - 12th Century); international chess wasn't standardized until the 15th Century, in Europe.

The Bottom Line: Brothers, Not Rivals, is the name of the match.The match is called: Brothers, Not Rivals.

It is not the right interpretation of Chinese chess and international chess to see the one as the “older,” the other as the “younger” member of a family, but as two limbs of a large and old family tree of strategy games. The two games are representative of their respective military cultures, has one with an open board and queen, while the other features a river, palace and cannon.

The controversy over what preceded the games is less important than the common motivation that led to the creation of both: the need to model warfare on the board, to experience strategic thinking and to compete on the board. You may be pushing a chariot over the Ch'u River or you are playing a pawn to an enemy king, but you are playing a game that goes back across the continents and over the ages.

The next time you're asked if Chinese chess is older than international chess, you can reply that, "The written records say yes — but the true story is much more interesting than a date!" Then perhaps try to play a game with them. After all, the easiest way to enjoy chess history will be to play it.

The dates and citations regarding the history are based on well-researched materials such as Cambridge History of Ancient China, Encyclopaedia of Chess and the archaeological reports from the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. In addition, we recommend that you read The Genealogy of Chess, by David H. Li, and H.J.R. Murray's classic, A History of Chess.