In the middle of the board ,there is an empty space called river .it is the symbol of boundary line .The two parts are combined by the river and become a complete Xiang Qi board .

Although the players can’t see any horizontal lines ,there are actually hidden horizontal lines inside the river .The players cross their pieces according to the hidden lines .

According to World Xiang Qi Foundation (WXF) ,the straight lines from right to left are marked as 1-9 .The 9th file for a player will be considered as the 1st file for his opponent .The 1st ,3rd ranks and 4th ,6th files of both sides have two diagonal lines .This becomes a  X shape which is called “palace” .
                      
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