It was a collection of Ricci's travels as a Jesuit priest into China. Matteo Ricci (1552-1610AD, aka 利玛窦(Lì Mǎ Dòu)) wrote De Christiana Expeditione apvd Sinas, which was later translated into Latin by Nicholas Trigault (1577-1628AD). Why understanding the early translations is importantġ613-1636AD Alvaro Semedo and his travelsġ793AD Eyles Irwin description of the pieces and 1799AD Hiram Cox's translationsġ866 Augustus Lindley's description of Xiangqiġ879AD JD Vaughan's detailed description of Xiangqi The article has been divided into two parts as the amount of material that the author has found was slightly overwhelming. The author has spent years tracking down possible mention of Xiangqi in the early literature, and the following is a summary of how the early Western scholars translated the pieces. While some of the translations were entirely accurate, there were other more interesting and sometimes hilarious translations. More Western scholars, travelers, explorers, merchants, politicians, envoys, et cetera have mentioned Xiangqi in their works.įaced with a new object, these early writers used their understanding and interpretations to translate the game in their writings. Xiangqi (Chinese Chess) was mentioned by Western scholars as early as 1583-1610AD by Matteo Ricci, who went to China as part of evangelism.

Piece names in chinese chess