Janggi (Korean Chess) · History
Cho and Han
The two sides are named after the Chu (楚) and Han (漢) states that fought for China after the fall of the Qin dynasty, led by Xiang Yu and Liu Bang. Their characters are carved on the Generals, and each game is pictured as a battle between the two. The names borrow a famous story; they do not mean the game existed at that time.
A shared root with xiangqi
Janggi is regarded as a sibling of Chinese xiangqi, sharing an ancestor: the piece names, the palace and play on the intersections are common to both. Exactly when the game reached Korea and took its present form is not known, but over a long time it developed rules of its own.
What makes Janggi distinct
There is no river, so every piece except the Guards and General can cross the board. The General starts in the middle of its palace, the Elephant leaps one straight plus two diagonal, and the Cannon must always jump to move. Pieces are octagonal and sized by rank, and the setup choice and the right to pass are hallmarks of the Korean game.
Janggi today
Janggi has long been played across generations in parks, village rest areas and family gatherings. The calls “Janggun!” and “Meonggun!” and the habit of hunsu — onlookers offering advice — have entered everyday Korean speech. Today it is also enjoyed in association tournaments, broadcasts and online, with details such as bikjang and repetition handled slightly differently by each event.
Further reading
To go deeper, start with the glossary on this site’s rules and strategy page, then use Learn Janggi on the play screen to practise each piece and solve a one-move mate. Comparing the family is fun too: chess places pieces inside squares and promotes pawns; xiangqi splits the board with a river and starts the General on the palace back row. Seeing how three games from one ancestor diverged makes Janggi’s character stand out.