372 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1794. 



Kiangnan, by the defeat and cap- 

 ture of its king, Choupayuen,* a 

 famous warrior among the Chinese. 

 On this conquest Hugh Cochu as- 

 sunred the title of emperor, and 

 Choupayi'en put an end to his own 

 life in despair. 



Explanation of the position, powers, 

 and motives of the pieces on the 

 Chinese chess-hoard, or Ckong Ke 

 royal game) . 



As there are nine pieces instead 

 of eight, to occupy the rear rank, 

 they stand on the lines between, and 

 not Avithin, the squares. The 

 gameisconsequeiuly played on the 

 lines. 



The king, or Cheng, stands in 

 the middle line of this row. H'? 

 moves resemble those of our king, 

 but are confined to the fortress 

 marked out for him. 



The two Princes, or Son, stand 

 on each sideof hip;i,4pd hgve equal 

 powers and limits. 



The Mandarins, or Tchong, an- 

 swer to our bishops, and have the 

 same moves, except that they can- 

 not cross the water or white space 

 in the middle of the board to annoy 

 the enemy, but stand on the defen- 

 sive. 



Tc.t knights, or rather horses, 

 called Maa, stand and move like 

 ours in every respect. 



The War-chariots, or Tche, re- 

 semble our rooks or castles. 



The Rocket-boys, or Pao, are 

 pieces whose motions and powers 

 were unknown to us. They act 

 with the direction of a rocket, and 

 can take none of their advcrsaiy's 

 men that have not a piece or pawn 

 intervening. To defend your men 

 from this attack it is necessary to 

 open the li:)e between, either to 

 take otFdie check on the King, or 

 to save a man from being captured 

 by the Pae. Their operation is, 

 otherwise, like that of the rook. 

 Their stations are marked between 

 the pieces and pawns. 



The five Pawns, or Fing, make 

 up the number of the men equal 

 to that of our board. Instead of 

 taking sideways, like ours, they 

 have the rook's motion, except that 

 it is limited to one step, and is not 

 retrograde. Another important 

 point, in which the Ping differs 

 from ours, is. that they continue iu 

 statu quo, after reaching their ad- ■ 

 versary's head-quarters. It will 

 appear, however, that th§ Chinese 

 pieces far exceed the proportion of 

 ours.j which occasions the whole 

 force of the contest to fall on them, 

 and thereby precludes the beauty 

 and variety of oiu" game, when re- 

 duced to a struggle between the 

 pawns, who are capable of the 

 highest promotion, and oftenchange 

 the fortune of the day. The posts 

 of the Ping are marked in front. 



Eyles Irwik. 



* The same romantic tales are circulated of the prowess of Choupayuen as of our 

 celebrated Guy Earl of Waxwick, 



Unpublishei 



