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A disc bearing the elephant or minister character.
Also known as: Xiang piece, Minister piece, Bishop piece xiangqi
The xiangqi elephant, moving two points diagonally and unable to cross the river.
Moves exactly two points diagonally and can be blocked at the intervening point.
Contexts: History
Cannot cross the river, so it is a purely defensive piece and the two elephants of a side can never meet the two of the other.
Contexts: History
Related forms that are not treated as separate canonical symbols — see our variant rules.
Red elephant (相)
Red plays 相 (xiàng) and black plays 象 (xiàng). The two characters name the same elephant, which moves and captures identically on either side — the glyph says whose piece it is, not what it does. Both are read the same way aloud, so the distinction is visible on the board and inaudible in play.
Black elephant (象)
Red plays 相 (xiàng) and black plays 象 (xiàng). The two characters name the same elephant, which moves and captures identically on either side — the glyph says whose piece it is, not what it does. Both are read the same way aloud, so the distinction is visible on the board and inaudible in play.
A flat circle carrying a single glyph, written differently on the two sides for one piece.