Xiangqi pieces and their meaning

Two different characters name the general, one for each side. Red's character is 帥, read shuài, meaning marshal. Black's character is 將, read jiàng, meaning general. Wikipedia's Xiangqi article explains that the two sides often use different characters for the same piece. English players sometimes call this piece the king. The general moves one point orthogonally and stays inside its own palace.

The advisor's character means an official or a scholar. Red's character is 仕 and Black's character is 士. Both are read shì. The meaning covers a scholar, an official, or a guardian. English players also call this piece the guard. The advisor moves one point diagonally, and cannot leave the palace's five marked points.

The elephant's two characters mean a minister and an elephant. Red's character is 相, meaning minister. Black's character is 象, meaning elephant. Both are read xiàng, so the two characters are homophones, words that sound alike but look different. English players sometimes call this piece the bishop. The elephant moves exactly two points diagonally and cannot cross the river.

The horse's character is the everyday word for a horse. Red's character is 傌 or 馬, and Black's character is 馬. Both are read mǎ, meaning horse. The horse moves one point orthogonally, then one point diagonally outward. A piece on the adjacent orthogonal point blocks this move.

The chariot's character has a reading of its own in the game. Red's character is 俥, and Black's character is 車, meaning chariot or car. Both are read jū, not chē. English players often call this piece the rook. The chariot moves any distance orthogonally, but cannot jump over another piece.

The cannon's two characters differ by one radical: fire and stone. Red's character is 炮, and Black's character is 砲. Both are read pào. The 火 radical in 炮 means fire, and the 石 radical in 砲 means stone. The cannon moves like the chariot when not capturing. To capture, it must jump exactly one piece of either colour, called the screen.

The soldier's two characters both name a foot soldier. Red's character is 兵, read bīng, and Black's character is 卒, read zú. Red's character means soldier, and Black's character means foot soldier or pawn. English players often call this piece the pawn. The soldier moves one point forward only. After it crosses the river, it can also move one point sideways, but never backward.

On this site, every piece appears as a round disc with its character on top. Red pieces use Red's characters, and black pieces use Black's characters. A real set works the same way. The maker writes or engraves the character on a flat disc of wood or plastic, and the ink colour tells the two armies apart. The board and pieces on this site use a warm, paper-like palette instead of bright colours.