There are many sayings about the origin of Chinese chess. Some believe that it was invented by Shennongshi, a legendary God of farming; while others insist that the game appeared during the Warring States Period (476B.C.-221B.C.) for there's vivid description in Chuci, Quyuan's poem. However, the most widely accepted saying goes that the game was invented Emperor Shun to educate his younger brother Xiang, hence the chess was named Xiangqi.

Development
Chinese Chess is a kind of strategic military game associated with battle affairs. In the early times, it was very popular among the aristocracy. After a long time practice, Chinese Chess was set close to the modern form at the end of Northern Song Dynasty.
That's 32 chess pieces in total, and the chess board with Boundary River as well as the rules of the game. It became a widespread game in Southern Song Dynasty. The men of letters such as Li Qingzhao and statesmen such as Wen Tianxiang at that time were fans of Chinese Chess. What's more, the book on the technique and skills came into being. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Chinese Chess was loved by every walk of life. In 1956, Chinese Chess became a national sport game.

Chinese Chess in the world
Although many people believe that International Chess was invented by Indian, some still hold fast the idea that the game was the invention of ancient Chinese. However, there is no clearly difference between the two. Influenced by different history and geography, the two games have distinctive ways in moving the chess pieces, representing different cultural backgrounds and characteristics. As a form of traditional Chinese culture, Chinese Chess is very popular both at home and abroad. It is estimated that as many as half a billion people know how to play the game.
In China, you can see people playing the chess along the street with onlookers gathered around. Here's a saying for onlookers, watching without telling, a true gentleman. Chinese Chess is easy to play, however a good practice is quite necessary. Playing Chinese Chess is a good chance to pick one's brain.

Chinese Chess Basic Rules
The King moves only one space either horizontally or vertically at a time. Furthermore, the King must always stay within the palace, which is a square marked with an X.
The Guards move only one space at a time diagonally. Similar to the King, the guards must stay within the palace.

The Ministers (Elephants) move two spaces at a time diagonally, for example, twp spaces left or right and two spaces up or down in a move. They must stay within their own side of the river. If there is a piece standing midway between the original and targeted position of a minister, the minister is blocked and the movement is not allowed.
The Rooks (Cars) move one or more than one spaces horizontally or vertically if all positions between the original and targeted positions are without any block.

The Knights (Horses) move two spaces horizontally and one space vertically or respectively two spaces vertically and one space horizontally. If there is a piece next to the horse in the horizontal or vertical direction, the horse is blocked and the movement is not allowed.

The Cannons move one or more than one spaces horizontally or vertically like Rook. However, in a capture move, there must be exactly one non-empty space in between the original and targeted position. In a non-capture move, all spaces in between must be empty.

The Pawns (or Soldiers) move one space at a time. If a pawn does not cross the river yet, it can only move forward vertically. Once crossing the river, the pawn can also move horizontally.

Capture: When a piece moves to a position currently held by an opponent's piece, it captures that opponent's piece. The captured piece will be removed from the board.
King's line of sight: The two Kings in the board must never be on the same vertical line without any pieces in between them. Any move that puts the two Kings in such a setting is illegal.

King safety: One must never leave the King to be captured by the opponent in the next move. Any move that put the King in such a setting is illegal.

End game condition: The game ends when one of the following situations happens:
Checkmate: If one threatens to capture the opponent's King and the opponent has no way to resolve the threat, one wins.

Stalemate: If one does not have any valid movement, one loses.