"Chuhe Hanjie" refers to the Honggou on Guangwu Mountain on the south bank of the Yellow River in Xingyang City, Henan Province. The mouth of the ditch is about 800 meters wide and 200 meters deep. It was a military stronghold in ancient times. During the Chu-Han contention in the early Western Han Dynasty, Liu Bang, the first emperor of Han, and Xiang Yu, the overlord of Western Chu, fought "seventy major battles and forty minor battles" in the Xingyang area alone. For various reasons, Xiang Yu "made an agreement with Han to divide the world in half, with the west of the Honggou for Han and the east for Chu", and the Honggou became the boundary between Chu and Han. Now there are still the city sites where the two armies faced each other on both sides of the Honggou, with the Overlord City on the east and the Hanwang City on the west. The origin of "Chuhe Hanjie" There is "Chuhe Hanjie" on the Chinese chess board. How did it come about? "Chuhe Hanjie" refers to the Honggou on Guangwu Mountain on the south bank of the Yellow River in Xingyang City, Henan Province. The mouth of the ditch is about 800 meters wide and 200 meters deep. It was a military stronghold in ancient times. During the Chu-Han contention in the early Western Han Dynasty, Liu Bang, the first emperor of Han, and Xiang Yu, the overlord of Western Chu, fought "seventy major battles and forty minor battles" in the Xingyang area alone. For various reasons, Xiang Yu "made an agreement with Han to divide the world in half, with the west of the Honggou as Han and the east as Chu", and the Honggou became the border between Chu and Han. Now there are still city sites where the two armies faced each other on both sides of the Honggou, with the Overlord City in the east and the Han City in the west. When was Chinese chess finalized? How long is its development history? There are many opinions. Some people believe that chess was mentioned in "Soul Summoning" written by Song Yu during the Warring States Period. If it is counted from that time to now, it has a history of more than 2,000 years. But some people say that chess was created by Emperor Shun in 2000 BC. He had a younger brother named Xiang, who had bad morals and did nothing, so Shun made chess to educate him, so it was called chess. If this is true, the history of chess is even longer, about 4,000 years. A more credible theory is that Chinese chess, also known as "elephant play" and "juzhongxi", evolved from the Bo play of the pre-Qin era. At the end of the Warring States period, a "Liubo" chess with six chess pieces per side was popular. In the Tang Dynasty, chess had some changes. There were only four types of soldiers in chess: "general, horse, car, and pawn". The chessboard was composed of 64 black and white squares, just like international chess. In the Song Dynasty, Chinese chess was basically finalized. In addition to the addition of cannons due to the invention of gunpowder, scholars and elephants were also added. The Song Dynasty's "Shilin Guangji" records the earliest chess score that can be seen in China at present, which is more than 200 years earlier than the earliest international chess score that appeared in the West in the 15th century. These records are enough to overturn the long-standing popular saying that Chinese chess originated from India. In the Ming Dynasty, someone changed the "general" of one side to "general", and the chess at that time was the same as the Chinese chess we often play today. Interestingly, there is a historical case related to the invention of Chinese chess: In the middle of the Chinese chess board, there is often a gap with the words "Chu River" and "Han Boundary" written on it. What does this mean? It turns out that this is a comparison of the "Chu-Han War" in history by playing chess. According to historical records, the "Chu River and Han Boundary" was in the ancient Xingyang (Zhengzhou) Chenggao area. The area is bordered by the Yellow River in the north, Mangshan in the west, the plain in the east, and Songshan in the south. It is a battlefield where military strategists of all dynasties mobilized their troops. In 203 BC, Liu Bang sent troops to attack the State of Chu. Xiang Yu was short of food and soldiers, so he proposed the requirement of "dividing the world in half, with the west of the Honggou as Han and the east as Chu". Since then, there has been the saying of the Chu River and Han Boundary. To this day, there are still two ancient city ruins facing each other on Guangwu Mountain in Xingyang. The one in the west is called Hanwang City, and the one in the east is called Bawang City. Legend has it that they were built by Liu Bang and Xiang Yu in those days. There is a ditch about 300 meters wide between the two cities, which is what people usually call the Honggou, and is also the basis for the boundary river marked on the chessboard. [The Chu River and Han Boundary in Chess] In the middle of the Chinese chessboard, there is often a gap with the words "Chu River" and "Han Boundary" written on it, which serves as the dividing line between the red side and the black side. This is a metaphor for the Chu-Han War between Xiang Yu, the Overlord of Western Chu, and Liu Bang, the first emperor of Han Dynasty. The chess relics and text maps left by the ancients all prove that the two armies set up camps, confronted each other, separated by the "Chu River and Han Boundary", divided into black and red, fought for the "Nine Fives", "fighting wits instead of strength" in the battle, and working together to capture the enemy's "general (general)", etc., all of which are implanted in the cultural heritage of the Chu-Han War, and are consistent with the epoch-making development of the Chinese nation-the foundation of the Han Dynasty in many aspects of history, geography, and humanities. What is the meaning of the Chu River and Han Boundary on the chessboard? It originated from the Chu-Han War. The "Chu River and Han Boundary" is located in the Chenggao area of Xingyang (Zhengzhou) in ancient times. The area is bordered by the Yellow River to the north, Mangshan to the west, the plain to the east, and Songshan to the south. It is a battlefield where military strategists of all dynasties mobilized their troops. In 203 BC, Liu Bang sent troops to attack the State of Chu. Xiang Yu was short of food and soldiers, so he proposed the requirement of "dividing the world in half, with the west of the Honggou as Han and the east as Chu". Since then, there has been the saying of the Chu River and Han Boundary. To this day, there are still two ancient city ruins facing each other on Guangwu Mountain in Xingyang. The one in the west is called Hanwang City, and the one in the east is called Bawang City. Legend has it that they were built by Liu Bang and Xiang Yu at that time. There is a large ditch about 300 meters wide between the two cities. This is what people usually call the Honggou, and it is also the basis for the boundary river marked on the chessboard. Xingyang, Henan is the source of Chinese chess. More than 2,200 years ago, Xiang Yu, the King of Chu, and Liu Bang, the King of Han, fought a four-year offensive and fierce battle in Xingyang as the main battlefield. The world was divided in the middle with the Honggou in Xingyang as the boundary, which became one of the most exciting episodes in the long river of Chinese history. The gleam of swords and the sound of drums and horns faded away. When the smoke of war gradually dissipated in the long river of history, the boundary between Chu and Han was forever fixed on the Chinese chess board, indicating the special status of Xingyang in the history of the development of Chinese chess. Therefore, Xingyang was also known as the capital of Chinese chess. According to the "Historical Records", "the west of the Honggou is Han, and the east of the Honggou is Chu". In this way, history made the Honggou the "boundary between Chu and Han". As the "boundary between Chu and Han", the Honggou not only remained in Xingyang, the "famous county in the East", and in the brilliant process of Chinese history, but also remained on the chessboard of Chinese chess, making Xingyang the capital of Chinese chess. [History] In the summer of 205 BC, Xiang Yu defeated the Han army in Pengcheng (now Xuzhou, Jiangsu). Liu Bang retreated to Xingyang. The Chu army pursued the victory and attacked each other in the Xingyang area for two years. In 204 BC, the Chu army surrounded Xingyang. Liu Bang felt that the situation was critical and asked Xiang Yu for peace. Xiang Yu followed the strategy of his adviser Fan Zeng, rejected the Han army's request for peace, and decided to pursue the victory. Liu Bang was weak, but he was very good at using strategies. He accepted the advice of his adviser Chen Ping and used a counter-espionage strategy against the Chu army to try to alienate Xiang Yu and Fan Zeng. Although Xiang Yu was brave but not wise, he did not know that it was Liu Bang's strategy. As expected, he became suspicious of Fan Zeng and expelled him from the army. Fan Zeng suffered an unjust accusation and left with hatred. He died of illness on the way. From then on, Xiang Yu lost his wise man and missed many opportunities. At that time, the Chu army was in high spirits and stepped up the siege of Xingyang. The situation was very unfavorable to the Han army. Ji Xin, a general who looked like Liu Bang, decided to sacrifice himself for the safety of the King of Han and the survival of the Han army, and suggested Liu Bang to escape. Under Chen Ping's persuasion, Liu Bang was deeply moved by Ji Xin's move, so he asked Ji Xin to wear the clothes of the King of Han and ride the car of the King of Han to pretend to be the King of Han and go out of the east gate of Xingyang to pretend to surrender, while he took the opportunity to escape from the west gate to Gao. After Xiang Yu found out that he was deceived, he burned Ji Xin and broke through Chenggao. Liu Bang quickly escaped from Chenggao again, crossed the Yellow River to the north, and the army went to Xiuwu. With the help of Han Xin, his power grew again. He learned from the past lessons and decided to take deep trenches and high fortifications to fight a protracted war with Xiang Yu to consume the strength of the Chu army. At the same time, he sent troops to attack Chu and burn its food and grass. In autumn, Xiang Yu led his troops to the east to fight in Kaifeng and Shangqiu, leaving his general Cao Ju to guard Chenggao. He repeatedly told them not to fight the Han army under any circumstances. After the Han army learned the information, they repeatedly came to the city to challenge and curse. Cao Ju could not bear the humiliation, so he led his troops out of the city in anger and wanted to cross the Sishui River to fight the Han army. When the boat reached the middle of the river, it was suddenly attacked by the Han army and defeated. Cao Ju regretted it and committed suicide because he knew he had no face to see Xiang Yu. Liu Bang recaptured Chenggao, stationed troops in Guangwu, and took the grain from Ao Cang. When Xiang Yu heard that Chenggao had fallen, he hurried back to Guangwu, but Liu Bang closed the city. The lack of food for the Chu army was not conducive to a long battle. In order to force Liu Bang to surrender, Xiang Yu took Liu Bang's father, who was captured, to Guangwu Mountain (now Bawang City) in the east of the city, and threatened Liu Bang across the stream, saying: "If you don't surrender early, I will boil your father to death." Liu Bang pretended to be calm and said: "At the beginning, the two of us fought against Qin together and swore to become brothers in front of King Huai. My father is your father. If you want to boil our father, don't forget to give me a bowl of broth." After hearing this, Xiang Yu became even more angry and decided to kill Liu Taigong. At this time, Xiang Bo advised Xiang Yu: "Killing Taigong is not the right time, and it will not be good for the Chu army." Xiang followed his advice, and Taigong survived. Soon after that, Liu Bang divided his troops into two groups. One group was still in a stalemate with Xiang Yu in Xingyang, while the other group sent General Han Xin to attack the Chu army from behind and occupy the Hebei and Shandong areas. From then on, the Han army had a more solid rear, and Xiao He in Guanzhong continuously transported soldiers and food. At this time, Xiang Yu had difficulty in supply and was in danger. The situation was reversed, the Chu army gradually weakened, and the Han army became stronger. In the autumn of 202 BC, the Chu army ran out of food and had no choice but to make peace with the Han army. The two sides agreed to "divide the world in half" with the Honggou as the boundary, with the west being the Han and the east being the Chu. This is the origin of the famous story of "Chu-Han contention, with the Honggou as the boundary" in history. (No pictures yet, welcome to provide.)(No pictures yet, welcome to provide.)