Chapter 32 The second quarter

Saixi is also an ancient chess game that appeared in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period.It came into being after Liubo, and was born on the basis of Liubo.In ancient literature, Bosse is often referred to together, for example: "Zhuangzi Parallel Thumbs" has the sentence "Bosse travels after".Saixi and Liubo are almost exactly the same in terms of boards and pieces, the main difference between them is whether there is a throw or not.There are chopsticks in Liubo chess, and chess is played by throwing chopsticks.There are no chopsticks, qiong and other chess tools similar to dice in Saixi, and there is no throwing when playing chess.Due to the non-throwing of adopting chess, Saixi got rid of the element of winning by luck.

It is also written as 簺 in ancient books, and it was also called Gewu in Han Dynasty.Ge Wu was very popular in the Han Dynasty, and the Western Han Dynasty also set up a special "Chess Edict" official to award chess players who are good at playing Ge Wu. "Hanshu·Wuqiu Shouwang Biography" said that Wuqiu Shouwang was called to be a chess player because he was good at playing five grids, and "Later Han Shu·Liang Ji Biography" said that Liang Ji was good at playing five grids.Gewu's move is similar to Liubo, except that chopsticks are not used, and only Xiaosan chess pieces are used, so it is different from Sai in name but is actually the same.

Regarding the chess game of Saixi, two slightly different shapes have been unearthed from ancient tombs in the Western Han Dynasty.The first type was unearthed from the ancient tomb of the Western Han Dynasty in Yunmeng, Hubei. The chess board is 38 cm long, 36 cm wide, and 2 cm thick.The regular pattern on the white ground on the front is exactly the same as Liubo chess, the only difference is that there is no Bo chopsticks.The chessboard is painted with red lacquer all around, the back is plain, and the four sides are painted with geometric patterns or plant patterns with red lacquer.This may be an earlier game.The second type, unearthed from the Mozuizi Han Tomb in Wuwei, Gansu Province, has painted wooden figurines. The chessboard has a black background, and the chess board is painted with a white "regular rectangle" pattern, which is slightly different from the Liubo chess board pattern.On the left side is a terracotta figurine, painted in black and white, wearing a long robe, combed in a bun, and covered with a beard. The right arm is stretched forward and downward, and the thumb and index finger are holding a rectangular wooden chess piece. They are playing chess with their hands raised.The first figurine on the right side is roughly similar in shape to the figurine on the left, with his right hand on his knee and his left hand raised in front of his chest, staring at the opponent.

The chess pieces of Saixi can be seen in the two shapes of dragon and tiger in the chess game unearthed in the Han Dynasty.Regarding the shape and method of Sai opera, there is a detailed introduction in "Sai Fu" written by Bian Shao in the Han Dynasty.