📚 Baiju Xiangqi Pu — one hundred selected positions, Qing dynasty
Red to move. Red is one Pawn up — three Pawns against two — with a Rook and Cannon in hand; but Black's palace guard of Advisor and Elephant is intact, backed by a Rook and Cannon of its own. The classical collection Bách Cục Tượng Kỳ Phổ concludes: draw. This position has not been verified by engine; the result follows the old book. The name borrows Hồng Nương, the most famous maid in the classic play 'Romance of the Western Chamber' — a woman whose personal name became the common Chinese word for a matchmaker. Why a jianghu chess puzzle carries this half-playful, half-bold name is explained in this page's Anecdotes section. In your view, can Red break through Black's Advisor–Elephant shield and turn one extra Pawn into a win?
A maid so famous her name became a profession — and a street-side position that 'borrowed' her name
One maid in literature became so famous that her name turned into a common noun: in Chinese today, "Hongniang" means a matchmaker — modern matchmaking services still borrow her name. And an old street-side position took her name for a scene of… "slipping off a robe". Hongniang is the maid of Cui…
Stories around this position — storytelling, not part of the engine-verified content.
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