Liu Guobin: worth at least hundreds of thousands yuan
30 Xiangqi pieces excavated
Recently, while conducting archaeology project near Wan An Town（万安镇）in Chengdu New District area, the Relics and Archaeology Team unearthed a Xiangqi set in a tomb from the Northern Song Dynasty period. Due to such a long buried time, the chess pieces were stuck and glued together. These pieces were made of bronze, there were 30 in total, 2 pieces fewer than the modern Xiangqi set. We may ask which two pieces are missing? This needs to be further studied and investigated.
Xie Lin（谢林）, the head of the archaeological project, said that the tomb where the Xiangqi pieces were unearthed was from an ordinary family, the Xiangqi set was found next to the calf bone of the tomb owner, which suggested that the tomb owner may have been a chess enthusiast during his lifetime. It is understood that this bronze set is the first of its kind excavated in Chengdu so far, hence of great research value. At present, archaeologists are working on cleansing and the protection work, later these pieces will be exhibited openly to the public.
"Xiangqi has a long history of development, it only completed and settled in its present form at the end of the Song Dynasty. This tomb in the Northern Song Dynasty period revealed to us only 30 chess pieces. Was it that two pieces were lost when they were buried with 32 originally? Further cleansing up and more research are needed. Xie Lin said no accompanied chessboard was found in the excavations, and he speculated that it might have been because it was made of wood that had long been corroded.
It is understood that in this tomb, in addition to the bronze chess pieces, there was also a sunflower lace bronze mirror, as well as low-temperature fired armed-men terracotta figurines, civil official terracotta figurines, and pottery dogs.
Guess: How the ancients played Xiangqi
Suspense 1: How to distinguish between "friend and foe"?
Today's Xiangqi is mostly of wooden pieces or plastic, with red and black colors to distinguish between "friend and foe". The chess set unearthed in Chengdu were made of bronze and had no color distinction. So, how was it distinguished at that time? Perhaps, other archaeological discoveries from the same period can give us some inspiration.
Among the cultural relics of the "Song Dynasty Kiln Collection" unearthed in Zhangming Town, Jiangyou（江油-彰明镇）in 1983, there were two sets of bronze chess pieces from the Song Huizong（宋徽宗）period, which were almost identical in shape. The chess pieces have a rafter on the outer edge and an engraved ornament on the inside, a total of 32 pieces. The front of the chess piece is engraved with the text "General, Shi, Elephant, Rook, Horse, Cannon, Pawn", and the back is engraved with a pattern corresponding to the text... Some experts speculate that the bronze chess at that time may be distinguished by words on one side and patterns on other side.
Suspense 2: Why are there two pieces fewer?
Researchers believe that Xiangqi, which already truly similar to the modern one, was invented in the Five Dynasties period（五代时期）. From the initial 7-party game, to only two opposing sides, there have been several big developments and important changes in between.
The chess set excavated by the Chengdu archaeological team has only 30 chess pieces, which is two fewer than today's set. The Northern Song Dynasty coincided with the period of great change in the history of Xiangqi, was it at that time that maybe one of the set of pawns, elephants, or cannons (2 pieces) was added? Or did it accidentally get lost during the burial? Who knows? The answer will only be revealed until the next step in archaeological research is done.
(Report by Zhang Yuanling, photo by Lei Yuandong)
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An expert collector of Xiangqi
Liu Guobin（刘国斌）, an expert in Xiangqi collection, said : Northern Song bronze chess pieces are worth at least hundreds of thousands yuan.
"If it is a Northern Song Dynasty chess piece, its archaeological value is immeasurable. Specifically, its economic value is at least hundreds of thousands of yuan. Liu Guobin, who was the director of the Xiangqi department of the National Sports Commission, said.
Liu Guobin is also a famous collector in the domestic Xiangqi community, he said that before this recent discovery, Luoyang and other places have also unearthed Xiangqi of the Northern Song Dynasty, according to the traditional understanding of the chess community, the number of pieces at that time should also be 32, this time Chengdu unearthed only 30 bronze chess pieces, that should be missing two pieces.
(Report by Jia Zhiruo)
Source : 蝴蝶飞的博客
2016-5-28
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