The general carries a sword dressed in his uniform, sitting in a military tent. Guards were females, wearing armors. The ministers are literally elephants. Rooks are wagons for transporting rocks for the rock-slingers. Knights are horses.
Cannons are actually rock-slinging machines.
Pawns are depicted to hold spears. This set was unearthed in Kai Feng in Beijing. The documentation of Xiangqi was generally attributed to Niu ZengYu who was the Prime Minister of Tang Dynasty . Wagons and horses provide all around attacks, Minister and advisors are official titles of the Han Dynasty. The wellbeing of the general inside the nine-space palace determines the outcome of the game, pawns swiftly move across the river diagonally.