River
楚河汉界 · chǔ hé hàn jiè · the Chu river and the Han border
The empty band across the middle of a xiangqi board that separates the two armies and changes what your pieces can do once they cross it.
The river is the gap between the fifth and sixth ranks, usually carrying the words 楚河 汉界 in memory of the war between Chu and Han. Pieces move across it normally, but three of them treat it as a boundary that matters.
Elephants can never cross it, which is why they are defenders for life. Soldiers that cross it gain the ability to step sideways as well as forward, which roughly doubles their value. Chariots that cross it become attackers rather than developers, because from the far side they hit soldiers, horses and defenders at once.
So the river is not decoration. It is the line that decides which of your pieces are allowed to attack at all.
In practice
Before you push a soldier across, ask what it will attack from the other side. A soldier that crosses with no target is just a soldier that cannot come home.
Related terms
- Soldier兵 / 卒The pawn of xiangqi: one step forward at a time, never backward, and able to move sideways as well once it has crossed the river.
- Elephant象 / 相A defensive piece that moves exactly two points diagonally, cannot cross the river, and can be blocked by a piece sitting in the middle of its path.
- Chariot车 / 車The strongest piece in xiangqi, moving any distance along a rank or file exactly like a rook, and the piece that decides most games.
- Crossing the river过河Moving a piece into the opponent's half of the board, where soldiers gain sideways movement and chariots become attackers.