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Listing 1.1 : The History of Xiang Qi
Xiang Qi , ( also known as Chinese Chess ) is one of the Chinese nation's long standing civilization .It is not only widely known among Chinese nation and becomes one of the part of their life ,moreover ,it spreads widely among the Southeast Asia .Since 1980s ,due to the expanding of economics ,political and cultures among the world ,many keen chinese chess-men were born in United States of America ,Britain ,Canada ,Norway ,Denmark ,Austria and other  Europe countries
 
Due to the sort of data ,there is hard to conclude the originate of Xiang Qi .There are two main versions of the originate of Xiang Qi .The first version says that Xiang Qi originated from India .This is because most of the people connect India with elephants .However ,in the earlier version of Xiang Qi ,there are no pieces such as Xiang ( Xiang is the chinese phrase which means elephant ) .Also ,in historical documents of India ,there is no convince evidence to proof that Xiang Qi was originated from India.

The second version about the originate of Xiang Qi is some how more reliable .According to the ancient books of China ,the " Xiang Qi " phrase appeared in the 4th century B.C. In Warring States Period ( 403 B.C.~ 221 B.C. )  , famous books named "Chi Ci.Zhao Hun Pian " and "Shoo Juan " had mentioned about Xiang Qi .However , the phrase "Xiang Qi " ,which was mentioned by the books ,was not exactly the "Xiang Qi " what we see today .It referred to a ivory made chess which named "Liu Bo Qi " .

The modern Xiang Qi of today had been finalized in Northern Song dynasty (11 century ) .It is believed that the modern Xiang Qi of today is evolved from "Liu Bo Qi " ."Da Ma Tu Jingo " ,written by Li Ding Sao (a female ci poet ) showed a picture of Xiang Qi .That picture is exactly the modern Xiang Qi of today .Recently ,a copper casting was found in Song dynasty mausoleum .On the copper casting ,one side was carved with (in Chinese calligraphy ) regular script ,the other side was carved with Xiang Qi pieces (round and squat-shaped ) .This proved that Xiang Qi at that time was exactly same as the modern Xiang Qi in quantity and name .In Southern Song , "Shi Lin Kuang Ji " which was written by Cheng Yuan Jing (a scholar ) had recorded two complete and the most ancient Xiang Qi game records ," Er Long Chu Hai Shi "

refer to Conise Encyclopedia Britannica ,Chinese Edition
translated by yccheok
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