This game supposedly comes from the area around Chang-an at a caravan crossing point on the Yellow River. The game is the battle between the merchants and the bandits and is supposed to be popular with ferrymen and drovers of all ages. If anyone has conflicting or additional information, let us know. The board is a Xiangqi or Chinese chess board.
Pieces are different.
Each player has one prince, four soldiers, four horses, four camels, and four artillery pieces. The setup is as follows, with some freedoms, as described below. The artillery may be set up at the start of the game at arbitrary squares on the fourth row. Win by surrounding the opposing Prince so that he cannot move, regardless of whether any other piece can move. No piece may jump over a Prince.