The History of Chinese Chess

Chinese Chess or Xiangqi is a traditional board game that has been around for thousands of years. Xiangqi is the most popular board game in the world, specially in countries in the Far East: China, Taiwan, Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam, Hong Kong, and others. Asserting the exact history of xiangqi and chess is difficult, as there exist some disagreements among the few historical texts and scholars. 

It is believed that Xiangqi has the same ancestor as Western Chess (International Chess), an old Indian game of Chanturanga, very popular in Europe, America and elsewhere. Xiangqi is recorded to have been played from at least the first century AD, but noone knows exactly when it begins.