Note on the starting order in Chinese chess
According to a 1999 usenet posting signed by David Woo of the Chinese Chess Federation, "red first" has always been the standard except for the period from 1956 to 1980, when black was required to go first by Beijing officials in order to make the practice conform to that in
weiqi (go). Chinese books from that period do indeed show black
at the bottom of the board and moving first. However, the older non-Chinese sources I have seen also agree in
giving black first move. According to Murray’s History of Chess (1913), red is esteemed as the favourite
colour, and "he who takes the red does not take the first move." Other sources assert that it is considered an honour to be
given the red pieces; evidently the idea is that the recipient is deemed to be the superior player and
can more easily overcome the slight handicap of having the second move.
The situation is further confused by the fact that the symbols for at least some of the pieces appear to have
changed sides at some point in the last century. Mathews’ 1931 dictionary, for example, states
that 
is
the black elephant. The following diagram from Murray is taken from an earlier work by Stewart Culin. Murray doesn't state which side of the board is which, but judging from the majority of the characters on the pieces, black is at the bottom. The black soldiers, however, are represented by the character now used on the red pieces, and vice versa.
Introduction to Chinese Chess