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Evidence for Janggi
1 pieces of evidence found.
Id DLP.Evidence.774
Type Artifact
Location Korea
Date 1895-01-01 - 1895-12-31
Rules The board has nine vertical lines and ten horizontal rows, and the pieces are placed on the intersections of these lines. Centreed along the back lines of each side is a three by three square with diagonals known as the palace. Pieces have special movement values: Janggun (general): May move one spot along the lines within the palace but cannot leave it. Sa (guards): Same movement as the Janggun. Ma (horses): Move one spot forward orthogonally and then one forward diagonally. Sang (elephants): Move one spot orthogonally forward then two spots diagonally forward. A Ma and Sang can be switched in the initial setup. Cha (chariots): Move like a rook in Chess, but also diagonally within the palace. Po (cannons): Jump over exactly one piece, over any distance horizontally or vertically, but cannot jump over or capture another cannon. Byeong/Jol (soldiers): Move and capture one point forward or sideways. Play continues until Woetong (checkmate) of the Janggun.
Content "LXXIV. TJYANG-KEUI—CHESS.
By W. H. Wilkinson, Late H. B. M. Acting Consul-General in Korea.
Korean chess, Tjyang-keid (Chinese, tseungk'i) is admittedly a variant of Chinese, yet, as will be seen, there are some important differences be- tween the two games. The design of the board, but not its shape, is the same, save that in Korea the files are carried across the " river," which is, in fact, ignored. The men, again, have the same names as in China, and, except that the King is placed in the centre of his " camp," and that the " Horse" and " Elephant" are interchangeable, occupy the same positions at starting. But their powers and privileges in most cases differ largely. A Korean chess-board and men, arranged for a game, is represented in Fig. 93. It will be noticed that the board is not square, but oblong, the width being greater than the breadth. All the Korean chess.-boards have this shape, the object in view being to facilitate the moving of pieces when they have reached the opponent's end of the board. It may be observed, in passing, that chess-boards would seem to be all of domestic manufacture, as they are not sold in any shops, even at the capital. The men can be procured, though they are usually made to order, inclosed in a net resembling an onion bag.
Another feature in which the Korean game will be seen to differ out- wardly from the Chinese is the shape of the men and the circumstances that the hieroglyphics on one side are inscribed in the " grass character," or running hand. Korean chessmen are not circular, as in China, but octagonal,^ and vary in size according to their value, the King (General) being the largest, the Chariot, Elephant, Horse and Cannon of medium size and the Pawns (soldiers) and Counsellors the smallest. The hiero- glyphs on one side are usually colored red, on the other green—the draughtsmen, for such in appearance they are, being all of the same wood and undyed. In describing the powers of the pieces, it will be convenient to give each its corresponding Western name, the Hpo, a piece we unfortunately lack, being styled a Cannon. The Korean names are as follows
1. Tjyang (Chinese, tseung), " General," more usually called Koung (Chinese, kiin), " Palace," the King.
2. Tcka (Chinese,M), "Chariot, "Rook.
3. Hpo (Chinese), p'du), "Cannon."
4. Pyeng (Chinese, ping), or tjol (Chinese, tsut), " Foot-soldier," Pawn. 5. Sd (Chinese, sz'), "Counsellor, "Queen.
6. Syang{ OamtsG, tseung),"Elephant,"Bishop.
7. Ma (Chinese, ma), " Horse," Knight.
The moves of these pieces follow two general laws, the existence of
which makes Korean chess a more finished or more logical game than the Chinese. The first is that the pieces invariably take as they move ; the second, that, within their limitations, they move along any marked line. In Chinese chess the P'du moves like a Rook, but takes only when a piece intervenes ; the Korean Cannon moves and takes in the same way. On the Chinese board the files between the fifth and sixth ranks are not marked, in order to better indicate the " river," after the crossing of which the Pawns acquire increased powers; yet for the purposes of play they exist. The diagonal lines joining the corners of the General's " camp " may be, though they seldom are, omitted from a Chinese chess-board ; but neither they nor the river files must be left out on the Korean. For, as has been said, wherever a line is marked a Korean piece can, within its limitations, move along it. Thus the Chariot, which has precisely the same powers as our Rook, may move from one corner of the " camp " to the centre, or, if so desired, to the corner diagonally opposite, because those points are connected by a marked line. For the same reason the Cannon, if on one such corner, may, when the centre is occupied, hop over to the opposite corner along the line of the diagonal. A similar train of reason- ing has made identical the movements of the two Counsellors and the General.
The General, or King, as he shall be called, may move from his original position at the centre on to any one of the nine points in his camp, but he can never leave his camp. Within it he moves only one step at a time, and that only along marked lines. Thus, if the King were at 5 a he could move thence to 5 b (the centre), 6 a or 4 a, but he could not move to 4 b or 6 b, because there is no line connecting 5 a with these last two points. As in the Chinese game, the Kings check one another across the board if they are on the same file, with no piece intervening. Korean chess, however, leans here, as in other games, toward the losing side. If one of the players has an overpowering advantage the other is allowed, should opportunity occur, to check his opponent's King with his own.Thus, if Red has King on 6 i, Pawns on 3 d and 6d, while Green has King on 5a, Rook on 7a, Pawn on 7d, Red is allowed to play King 6i to 5i (check). When Green moves his King to 4 a or 6 a (his only alternatives), Red again checks with his King, making the game a draw. It should, how- ever, be observed that the act of checking the opponent's King with one's own is in itself a confession of inferiority, and deprives the player of any chance of winning the game,—he can at most draw it.'
The King on the losing side is allowed yet another privilege. If he is the only piece on his side, and if his moving would greatly endanger him, he is allowed, as the equivalent of a move, to turn over and remain in his original position...The Counsellors, or Queens, move in all respects like the King, and are equally confined to the nine points of the camp. They cannot give check, however, across the board. They are more powerful than the Chinese Ss', which can only occupy the five points on the diagonals.
The Chariots, or Rooks, have exactly the powers of our own Castles, or the Chinese Kii, except that, as has been said, they can also move along the marked diagonals of either their own or the enemy's camp.
The Horses (Knights) have precisely the move of the Chinese Md, which is also that of the Western Knight, with one important limitation. The Korean and the Chinese Md always moves first one step along a file or rank, and then a step diagonally. If there be a piece, whether of his own side or the enemy's, at the elbow, so to speak, of his beat, he cannot move. Thus in the example given above, the Red Knight on 3 c could not move to 5b or 5d, because of the Pawn on 4c; had the Pawn been on 4b or 4 the Knight would not be stopped. It will be seen that it is, owing to this rule, possible to cover check- from a Korean Knight.
The Elephant, or Bishop, moves one step along a rank or file, then two steps diagonally. It differs from the Jafna/ or Camel of Tamerlane's Chess, in that the latter moves first a step diagonally, and then two straight wise, and has, which the Syang has not, the privilege of vaulting. For the Korean Elephant must have a clear course from start to finish, like the Chinese Elephant. Unlike the latter (whose move is that of Tamerlane'sF il, or the original Bishop, the Fil less their power of vaulting), the Korean Elephant is not confined to its own side of the river, but may move freely all over the board.
At starting, the Korean Bishop must stand on one of the two points between the Rook and the Queen, the Knight being placed on the other; but on which point depends upon the whim of the player. Perhaps it would be simpler to say that at the commencement of the game, the men being arranged as in Chinese chess (except that the Kings are on 5 b, not 5 a, and 5 i, not 5 j, either player may, before moving, but not afterward, interchange Knight or Bishop at one or both sides of his Hne. If one player so inter- changes, it is generally considered advisable for the other to do the same, but he is under no obligation in the matter.
The Soldiers (Pawns) differ from those of China in that they have from the first the move which the Chinese Ping only gets after crossing the river. A Korean Pawn moves one step sideways or forward, but never backward or diagonally. When he reaches his tenth rank (the enemy's first) he does not change his condition, but remains a Pawn, restricted to a sidelong movement up and down that rank. For this reason a Pawn is not often advanced to the last line—is, indeed, seldom carried beyond the eighth rank, his strongest position. We have seen that, in common with the Rook, the King, and Queen, the Pawn can travel along the diagonal of the camp.
The Cannon differs from the P'du of China in that it moves as it takes, and that another Cannon can neither form a " Screen " for it nor be taken by it. The Korean Hpo moves in a straight line, horizontally or perpendicularly, but only when some piece (not itself a Cannon) intervenes." Wilkinson in Culin 1895:82-88.
Confidence 100
Source Culin, S. 1895. Korean Games with Notes on the Corresponding Games of China and Japan. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania.
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