Secrets Inside the Orange - Revision history

WikiAdmin: Add Copies and facsimiles section (Palace Museum manuscript, facsimile series, twentieth-century reprints)

2026-09-30T05:20:19Z

Add Copies and facsimiles section (Palace Museum manuscript, facsimile series, twentieth-century reprints)

← Older revision		Revision as of 05:20, 30 September 2026
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	Republican-era and modern editions followed: a lithograph from the Chess Study Society (<span lang="zh">棋學研究社</span>), the 1936 typeset edition of the Shanghai Chinese Literature Book Company with Zhou Bowen's collation, and annotated editions by Liu Jianqing and Liu Jian, and by Li Geng and Yang Dian, whose notes are reproduced in the digital collections.<ref name="ref-11">''Secrets Inside the Orange'' (橘中秘象棋譜). Lithograph edition of the Chess Study Society (棋學研究社), with ''Golden Roc's Eighteen Transformations'' (金鵬十八變) at the head of the cover; title page, editorial rules, songs, complete instructions and volume one.</ref><ref name="ref-1" /><ref name="ref-8" /><ref name="ref-2" />		Republican-era and modern editions followed: a lithograph from the Chess Study Society (<span lang="zh">棋學研究社</span>), the 1936 typeset edition of the Shanghai Chinese Literature Book Company with Zhou Bowen's collation, and annotated editions by Liu Jianqing and Liu Jian, and by Li Geng and Yang Dian, whose notes are reproduced in the digital collections.<ref name="ref-11">''Secrets Inside the Orange'' (橘中秘象棋譜). Lithograph edition of the Chess Study Society (棋學研究社), with ''Golden Roc's Eighteen Transformations'' (金鵬十八變) at the head of the cover; title page, editorial rules, songs, complete instructions and volume one.</ref><ref name="ref-1" /><ref name="ref-8" /><ref name="ref-2" />

			== Copies and facsimiles ==

			The version note in the Dongping Xiangqi collection lists early copies that are all Qing-dynasty printings, among them the Weigen Studio (味根齋) edition of 1853 and copies whose title page carries the older heading ''Golden Roc's Eighteen Transformations'' (金鵬十八變).<ref name="ref-2" /> The earliest witness that has been published in facsimile is the copy held by the Palace Museum in Beijing: a brush-written manuscript that is bound in one volume with two Go manuals, the ''Manual of Endings'' (官子譜) and ''The Juyi Hall Go Manual'' (居易堂圍棋譜), and that appeared in the museum's rare-book series (''Palace Museum Rare Books Series'', 故宮珍本叢刊, 子部藝術; Hainan Publishing House, 2001).<ref name="ref-12">Palace Museum (故宮博物院), compiler. ''橘中秘・官子譜・居易堂圍棋譜''. 故宮珍本叢刊, 子部藝術 [''Palace Museum Rare Books Series'', Arts section]. Haikou: 海南出版社, 2001. Facsimile edition, one volume; the Arts section runs to thirty titles in thirty-six volumes. ISBN 7-80645-871-9. National Diet Library catalogue record. [https://ndlsearch.ndl.go.jp/books/R100000136-I1970586434790080819 Record]</ref> Like the printed editions, it opens with the cursive <span lang="zh">橘中秘敘</span> and then gives the editorial rules, the ''Complete Instructions'' and the play of the four volumes, with the games written in the same page layout as the printings.<ref name="ref-12" /> The manual is also reproduced in the ''Continuation of the Complete Library in Four Branches'' (''續修四庫全書''; Shanghai Classics Publishing House, 1995–2002), whose contents include ''Secrets Inside the Orange'' in four volumes.<ref name="ref-13">''Continuation of the Complete Library in Four Branches'' (續修四庫全書), compiled by the 續修四庫全書編纂委員會. Shanghai: 上海古籍出版社, 1995–2002. Volume contents include 橘中秘, four volumes, compiled by Zhu Jinzhen (明朱晉楨輯). National Diet Library catalogue record. [https://ndlsearch.ndl.go.jp/books/R100000002-Ia1000016930 Record]</ref>

			Twentieth-century reprints include a 1927 edition from the Zhonghua Book Company (中華書局), reissued by the Shanghai Bookstore (上海書店) in 1985 from that printing, and the Republican lithograph and the 1936 Shanghai typeset edition described above.<ref name="ref-14">''橘中秘''. Shanghai: 上海書店, 1985. Reprinted from the 中華書局 edition of 1927; text corrected by Pan Dingsi (潘定思) and edited by Xie Xiaxun (謝俠遜). National Diet Library catalogue record. [https://ndlsearch.ndl.go.jp/books/R100000136-I1970586434849407655 Record]</ref><ref name="ref-11" /><ref name="ref-1" />

	== Reception ==		== Reception ==

WikiAdmin: Restrict Chinese characters to names, titles and named techniques

2026-09-30T05:04:07Z

Restrict Chinese characters to names, titles and named techniques

← Older revision		Revision as of 05:04, 30 September 2026
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	== Title ==		== Title ==

	The title means "secrets inside the orange" and alludes to a Tang-dynasty tale of chess-playing immortals. In the story "The Man of Baqiong" (<span lang="zh">巴邛人</span>) from Niu Sengru's (<span lang="zh">牛僧孺</span>) collection ''Records of the Strange'' (<span lang="zh">玄怪錄</span>), a householder in Baqiong cuts open two unusually large oranges and finds two white-haired elders inside each, playing at 象戲 (<span lang="zh">象戲</span>); one of them remarks, "the joy inside the orange is no less than that of Mount Shang" ~~(<span lang="zh">橘中之樂，不減商山</span>)~~.<ref name="ref-5">Niu Sengru (牛僧孺), ''Records of the Strange'' (玄怪錄), volume 3, "The Man of Baqiong" (巴邛人). Tang dynasty. [https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/%E7%8E%84%E6%80%AA%E9%8C%84/%E5%8D%B73 Wikisource transcription]</ref> Later Chinese writing derives from the story both the byname "orange play" (<span lang="zh">橘中戲</span>) for xiangqi and the titles of Ming manuals such as ''Secrets Inside the Orange''.<ref name="ref-6">China Central Television (中央電視台) (4 June 2007). "[https://news.cctv.com/special/zgctty/20070604/100723.shtml The game of go and chess: the development of Chinese xiangqi]" [<span lang="zh">博弈篇：中國象棋的發展歷程</span>]. CCTV (央視網). Section on 橘中戲: the tale of the man of Baqiong, and the statement that the titles of the Ming manuals 橘中秘 and 橘中樂 derive from it.</ref>		The title means "secrets inside the orange" and alludes to a Tang-dynasty tale of chess-playing immortals. In the story "The Man of Baqiong" (<span lang="zh">巴邛人</span>) from Niu Sengru's (<span lang="zh">牛僧孺</span>) collection ''Records of the Strange'' (<span lang="zh">玄怪錄</span>), a householder in Baqiong cuts open two unusually large oranges and finds two white-haired elders inside each, playing at the elephant game (<span lang="zh">象戲</span>); one of them remarks, "the joy inside the orange is no less than that of Mount Shang".<ref name="ref-5">Niu Sengru (牛僧孺), ''Records of the Strange'' (玄怪錄), volume 3, "The Man of Baqiong" (巴邛人). Tang dynasty. [https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/%E7%8E%84%E6%80%AA%E9%8C%84/%E5%8D%B73 Wikisource transcription]</ref> Later Chinese writing derives from the story both the byname "orange play" (<span lang="zh">橘中戲</span>) for xiangqi and the titles of Ming manuals such as ''Secrets Inside the Orange''.<ref name="ref-6">China Central Television (中央電視台) (4 June 2007). "[https://news.cctv.com/special/zgctty/20070604/100723.shtml The game of go and chess: the development of Chinese xiangqi]" [<span lang="zh">博弈篇：中國象棋的發展歷程</span>]. CCTV (央視網). Section on 橘中戲: the tale of the man of Baqiong, and the statement that the titles of the Ming manuals 橘中秘 and 橘中樂 derive from it.</ref>

	The compiler's elder brother described the naming in his preface: after reading the manuscript he exclaimed that it was "the secret treasure inside the orange" (<span lang="zh">此橘中秘寶也</span>), and "gave it the name ''Secrets Inside the Orange''" (<span lang="zh">顏其名曰橘中秘</span>).<ref name="ref-1" /> Both characters of the first word appear in the tradition: the 1632 title page is described with <span lang="zh">桔</span>, while the manuscript copy in the Palace Museum and the 1936 Shanghai printing use <span lang="zh">橘</span>.<ref name="ref-2" /><ref name="ref-7">''Secrets Inside the Orange'' (橘中祕), manuscript copy in the Palace Museum, reproduced with the Go manuals ''Manual of Endings'' (官子譜) and ''The Juyi Hall Go Manual'' (居易堂圍棋譜) in the ''Palace Museum Rare Books Series'' (故宮珍本叢刊). Facsimile, preface in cursive script, editorial rules, complete instructions, table of contents in four volumes.</ref><ref name="ref-1" />		The compiler's elder brother described the naming in his preface: after reading the manuscript he exclaimed that it was "the secret treasure inside the orange" (<span lang="zh">此橘中秘寶也</span>), and "gave it the name ''Secrets Inside the Orange''" (<span lang="zh">顏其名曰橘中秘</span>).<ref name="ref-1" /> Both characters of the first word appear in the tradition: the 1632 title page is described with <span lang="zh">桔</span>, while the manuscript copy in the Palace Museum and the 1936 Shanghai printing use <span lang="zh">橘</span>.<ref name="ref-2" /><ref name="ref-7">''Secrets Inside the Orange'' (橘中祕), manuscript copy in the Palace Museum, reproduced with the Go manuals ''Manual of Endings'' (官子譜) and ''The Juyi Hall Go Manual'' (居易堂圍棋譜) in the ''Palace Museum Rare Books Series'' (故宮珍本叢刊). Facsimile, preface in cursive script, editorial rules, complete instructions, table of contents in four volumes.</ref><ref name="ref-1" />
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	The endgame preface is signed "compiled by Zhu Jinzhen, style name Jinzhi, of Wuyuan" (<span lang="zh">武原朱晉楨進之甫輯</span>), and the complete games are headed "Zhu Jinzhen of Donghai, style name Jinzhi, compiler" (<span lang="zh">東海進之朱晉楨輯</span>).<ref name="ref-8">Liu Jianqing (劉劍青) and Liu Jian (劉健), compilers. ''Detailed Explanation of Secrets Inside the Orange'' (桔中秘詳解). Chengdu: Shurong Chess and Go Press (蜀蓉棋藝出版社). Preface by Jia Titao (賈題韜); authors' preface; the original preface; songs (p. 2); complete instructions (p. 3); endgame preface (p. 226) and endgames (pp. 227–290).</ref><ref name="ref-1" /> Two prefaces by his elder brother survive. One is dated to the spring of 1632 (<span lang="zh">崇禎壬申孟夏</span>) and signed "the layman Wuzhu" (<span lang="zh">無住居士</span>); the other, printed in the 1936 edition, is dated "the year ''zhaoyang zuoe''" (癸酉, 1633) and signed by Zhu Yiwei of Donghai (<span lang="zh">東海朱翼維</span>).<ref name="ref-2" /><ref name="ref-1" />		The endgame preface is signed "compiled by Zhu Jinzhen, style name Jinzhi, of Wuyuan" (<span lang="zh">武原朱晉楨進之甫輯</span>), and the complete games are headed "Zhu Jinzhen of Donghai, style name Jinzhi, compiler" (<span lang="zh">東海進之朱晉楨輯</span>).<ref name="ref-8">Liu Jianqing (劉劍青) and Liu Jian (劉健), compilers. ''Detailed Explanation of Secrets Inside the Orange'' (桔中秘詳解). Chengdu: Shurong Chess and Go Press (蜀蓉棋藝出版社). Preface by Jia Titao (賈題韜); authors' preface; the original preface; songs (p. 2); complete instructions (p. 3); endgame preface (p. 226) and endgames (pp. 227–290).</ref><ref name="ref-1" /> Two prefaces by his elder brother survive. One is dated to the spring of 1632 (<span lang="zh">崇禎壬申孟夏</span>) and signed "the layman Wuzhu" (<span lang="zh">無住居士</span>); the other, printed in the 1936 edition, is dated "the year ''zhaoyang zuoe''" (癸酉, 1633) and signed by Zhu Yiwei of Donghai (<span lang="zh">東海朱翼維</span>).<ref name="ref-2" /><ref name="ref-1" />

	Both prefaces tell the same two stories about the compiler. On a campaign in Yunnan ~~(<span lang="zh">奉節滇南</span>)~~ he turned chess to military use, saying afterwards, "I merely applied the way of the elephant game to the conduct of war" ~~(<span lang="zh">予僅以象戲之道施諸行軍耳</span>)~~. During the crisis of 1629, when his brother commanded the defence of the Guangning Gate (<span lang="zh">廣寧門</span>) in the capital against what the preface calls a mob of scoundrels ~~(<span lang="zh">群醜</span>)~~, the younger man showed no alarm, comparing the situation to a game: "facing the enemy is like facing a guest across the board" ~~(<span lang="zh">與敵對壘如與客對枰耳</span>)~~.<ref name="ref-1" /><ref name="ref-2" /> The 1632 preface closes on the same image: "though the orange is narrow, one feels the world wide; though victory and defeat are divided, one forgets the thought of contention" ~~(<span lang="zh">橘中雖隘，自覺天地之寬；勝負雖分，竟忘角逐之想</span>)~~.<ref name="ref-2" />		Both prefaces tell the same two stories about the compiler. On a campaign in Yunnan he turned chess to military use, saying afterwards, "I merely applied the way of the elephant game to the conduct of war". During the crisis of 1629, when his brother commanded the defence of the Guangning Gate (<span lang="zh">廣寧門</span>) in the capital against what the preface calls a mob of scoundrels, the younger man showed no alarm, comparing the situation to a game: "facing the enemy is like facing a guest across the board".<ref name="ref-1" /><ref name="ref-2" /> The 1632 preface closes on the same image: "though the orange is narrow, one feels the world wide; though victory and defeat are divided, one forgets the thought of contention".<ref name="ref-2" />

	== Plan and contents ==		== Plan and contents ==

	The editorial rules (<span lang="zh">凡例</span>) state the plan in a single line: "four volumes in all; volumes one and two are complete games, volumes three and four are endgames, and the volumes are in no disorder" ~~(<span lang="zh">全部四卷，一卷二卷全局，三卷四卷殘局，卷帙並無舛錯</span>)~~.<ref name="ref-2" /> The complete games are divided by move order and odds: twenty games with the first move (<span lang="zh">得先</span>), thirteen games yielding the first move (<span lang="zh">讓先</span>), and eighteen games at odds (<span lang="zh">讓子</span>) — ten at the odds of a horse and eight at the odds of both horses.<ref name="ref-4" /><ref name="ref-8" /> Most of them belong to the two cannon families, the same-direction cannons (<span lang="zh">順手炮</span>) and the opposite-direction cannons (<span lang="zh">列手炮</span>); the screen-horse formation, the single-horse formation and the elephant opening also appear.<ref name="ref-2" /> Each game is given as a main line with numbered variations ~~(<span lang="zh">變</span>)~~ branching from it, and the editorial rules explain the score: the figures for "level" moves and for the advances and retreats of horses, advisors and elephants name a square, while the figures for chariot, cannon and pawn advances count the points moved.<ref name="ref-2" />		The editorial rules (<span lang="zh">凡例</span>) state the plan in a single line: "four volumes in all; volumes one and two are complete games, volumes three and four are endgames, and the volumes are in no disorder".<ref name="ref-2" /> The complete games are divided by move order and odds: twenty games with the first move (<span lang="zh">得先</span>), thirteen games yielding the first move (<span lang="zh">讓先</span>), and eighteen games at odds (<span lang="zh">讓子</span>) — ten at the odds of a horse and eight at the odds of both horses.<ref name="ref-4" /><ref name="ref-8" /> Most of them belong to the two cannon families, the same-direction cannons (<span lang="zh">順手炮</span>) and the opposite-direction cannons (<span lang="zh">列手炮</span>); the screen-horse formation, the single-horse formation and the elephant opening also appear.<ref name="ref-2" /> Each game is given as a main line with numbered variations branching from it, and the editorial rules explain the score: the figures for "level" moves and for the advances and retreats of horses, advisors and elephants name a square, while the figures for chariot, cannon and pawn advances count the points moved.<ref name="ref-2" />

	The front matter carries instructional verse as well. Songs for the openings (<span lang="zh">歌訣</span>) give a stanza each to the central cannon, the advisor's-corner cannon, the flying cannon, the elephant opening and the method of breaking it.<ref name="ref-1" /><ref name="ref-8" /> The ''Complete Instructions'' (<span lang="zh">全旨</span>) summarise the doctrine in prose: "though chess is a small art, its meaning is subtle; one gains only through concentration, and only by following method can one surpass" ~~(<span lang="zh">棋雖曲藝，義頗精微，必專心然後有得，必合法然後能超</span>)~~, followed by maxims for each formation — "with the same-direction cannons, first make the chariot mobile; with the opposite-direction cannons, secure the advisors" ~~(<span lang="zh">順手炮，先要車活；列手炮，須補士牢</span>)~~ — and for the conduct of the game — "sacrifice material only for the initiative; do not fall behind in capturing" ~~(<span lang="zh">棄子須要得先，捉子莫教落後</span>)~~, "when ahead, do not be hasty; when the chariot is gone, calm the mind; when strong, seek the win; when weak, seek the draw" ~~(<span lang="zh">得先時，切忌著忙；失車去，還教心定；子力猛，必須求勝；子力寬，即便尋和</span>)~~.<ref name="ref-1" /><ref name="ref-8" /> The 1936 printing opens the games with a diagram of the starting array and a verse on the movement of the pieces, from "the general never leaves the nine-palace" ~~(<span lang="zh">將軍不離九宮內</span>)~~ to "the pawn advances only one point, and once across the river has no fixed path" ~~(<span lang="zh">惟卒止能行一步，過河橫進退無蹤</span>)~~.<ref name="ref-1" />		The front matter carries instructional verse as well. Songs for the openings (<span lang="zh">歌訣</span>) give a stanza each to the central cannon, the advisor's-corner cannon, the flying cannon, the elephant opening and the method of breaking it.<ref name="ref-1" /><ref name="ref-8" /> The ''Complete Instructions'' (<span lang="zh">全旨</span>) summarise the doctrine in prose: "though chess is a small art, its meaning is subtle; one gains only through concentration, and only by following method can one surpass", followed by maxims for each formation — "with the same-direction cannons, first make the chariot mobile; with the opposite-direction cannons, secure the advisors" — and for the conduct of the game — "sacrifice material only for the initiative; do not fall behind in capturing", "when ahead, do not be hasty; when the chariot is gone, calm the mind; when strong, seek the win; when weak, seek the draw".<ref name="ref-1" /><ref name="ref-8" /> The 1936 printing opens the games with a diagram of the starting array and a verse on the movement of the pieces, from "the general never leaves the nine-palace" to "the pawn advances only one point, and once across the river has no fixed path".<ref name="ref-1" />

	== Complete games ==		== Complete games ==
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	== Endgames ==		== Endgames ==

	The endgame section has its own preface, the <span lang="zh">殘局說</span> ("on endgames"), signed by Zhu Jinzhen himself. It argues that endgames are the most teachable part of the game: "endgames complete what the play of full boards leaves unfinished. A full board has many pieces and is hard to understand; an endgame has few pieces and is easy to grasp, and is all the more worth learning from" ~~(<span lang="zh">棋有殘局，補全盤之未備也。全盤子多而難明，殘局子少而易悟，尤可取法</span>)~~. The author distinguishes the two errors of judgement that endgames expose — attacking when a draw should be held, and agreeing to a draw when a win is there — and says that he collected his material from older scores, "working from the old manuals with all my thought ... one hundred and forty positions in all, adding explanations in five cases out of ten and correcting mistakes in three" ~~(<span lang="zh">是集，余從舊譜，殫精畢慮……共得百四十局，伸其說者十之五，訂其謬者十之三</span>)~~, with the aim that "the won should be won and the drawn drawn" ~~(<span lang="zh">使勝者必勝，和者必和</span>)~~.<ref name="ref-8" /><ref name="ref-2" /> The received manuals contain 137 positions rather than 140, a discrepancy noted by modern editors.<ref name="ref-8" />		The endgame section has its own preface, the <span lang="zh">殘局說</span> ("on endgames"), signed by Zhu Jinzhen himself. It argues that endgames are the most teachable part of the game: "endgames complete what the play of full boards leaves unfinished. A full board has many pieces and is hard to understand; an endgame has few pieces and is easy to grasp, and is all the more worth learning from". The author distinguishes the two errors of judgement that endgames expose — attacking when a draw should be held, and agreeing to a draw when a win is there — and says that he collected his material from older scores, "working from the old manuals with all my thought ... one hundred and forty positions in all, adding explanations in five cases out of ten and correcting mistakes in three", with the aim that "the won should be won and the drawn drawn".<ref name="ref-8" /><ref name="ref-2" /> The received manuals contain 137 positions rather than 140, a discrepancy noted by modern editors.<ref name="ref-8" />

	The positions are catalogued by material — double chariots, chariot and cannon, single chariot, horse and pawn, cannon and pawn, and so on — and each is given a short solution with the result marked as a win or a draw.<ref name="ref-1" /> Among them is ''Borrowing the Cannon to Use the Horse'' (<span lang="zh">借炮使馬</span>), an endgame in which a single horse does the attacking and a cannon supplies the final check. In the recorded solution the horse passes in front of the palace, withdraws, returns, and finally settles on 17. H5+4 directly in the general's file, where it serves as the screen for the cannon's check; Black has no reply.<ref name="ref-4" />		The positions are catalogued by material — double chariots, chariot and cannon, single chariot, horse and pawn, cannon and pawn, and so on — and each is given a short solution with the result marked as a win or a draw.<ref name="ref-1" /> Among them is ''Borrowing the Cannon to Use the Horse'' (<span lang="zh">借炮使馬</span>), an endgame in which a single horse does the attacking and a cannon supplies the final check. In the recorded solution the horse passes in front of the palace, withdraws, returns, and finally settles on 17. H5+4 directly in the general's file, where it serves as the screen for the cannon's check; Black has no reply.<ref name="ref-4" />

WikiAdmin: New article: Secrets Inside the Orange (橘中秘, 1632)

2026-09-30T04:34:45Z

New article: Secrets Inside the Orange (橘中秘, 1632)

New page

'''Secrets Inside the Orange''' (Chinese: 橘中秘, also printed as 桔中秘; pinyin: ''Jú zhōng mì'') is a xiangqi manual compiled by the Ming-dynasty player Zhu Jinzhen (朱晉楨) and first printed in 1632, the fifth year of the Chongzhen era.<ref name="ref-1">Zhu Jinzhen (朱晉楨) (1632). ''Secrets Inside the Orange'' (橘中秘). Shanghai: Chinese Literature Book Company (中國文學書局), 1936 printing, one volume; the title page names the compiler as Zhu Jinzhen of Wuyuan (武原朱進楨) and the collator as Zhou Bowen of Liangxi (梁溪周博文). Preface by Zhu Yiwei; editorial rules (凡例); songs on the openings (橘中秘歌括); complete instructions (橘中秘全旨); initial-array diagram and verse (象棋局面全式之圖); volume one, 得先, game 1.</ref><ref name="ref-2">Zhu Jinzhen (朱晉楨) (1632). ''Secrets Inside the Orange'' (橘中秘 / 桔中秘). Dongping Xiangqi (東萍象棋網) digital transcription of the prefaces, editorial rules, complete instructions, endgame preface and songs, with a note on the editions. [http://www.dpxq.com/hldcg/share/xiangqigupu/juzhongmi/ Preface and text] · [http://www.dpxq.com/hldcg/share/chess_%E8%B1%A1%E6%A3%8B%E8%B0%B1%E5%A4%A7%E5%85%A8/%E8%B1%A1%E6%A3%8B%E8%B0%B1%E5%A4%A7%E5%85%A8-%E5%8F%A4%E8%B0%B1%E5%85%A8%E5%B1%80/%E6%A1%94%E4%B8%AD%E7%A7%98/%E6%A3%8B%E8%B0%B1%E5%88%97%E8%A1%A8/ Game records]</ref> With the later ''Plum Blossom Manual'' (梅花譜) it forms the pair that Chinese writers call "the orange and the plum" (橘梅).<ref name="ref-3">''Plum Blossom Manual'' (梅花譜). Chinese Wikipedia (維基百科). Authorship of Wang Zaiyue (王再越), the pairing with ''Secrets Inside the Orange'' as 橘梅, the division of the complete games, and the eight games of screen horses against the central cannon. [https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%A2%85%E8%8A%B1%E8%AD%9C Article]</ref> The book is best known for its systematic treatment of the cannon-versus-cannon openings, for the practical endgames collected in its later volumes, and for its first complete game — the horse sacrifice that mates on Red's thirteenth move.<ref name="ref-4">Dongping Xiangqi (東萍象棋網). DhtmlXQ records of ''Secrets Inside the Orange'': volume one, 得先, games 1–20; volume two, 讓先, games 1–13; 讓左馬, games 1–10; 讓雙馬, games 1–8; endgames of volume three. [http://www.dpxq.com/hldcg/search/view_u_41677.html Horse sacrifice] · [http://www.dpxq.com/hldcg/search/view_u_41672.html Screen horses against the central cannon] · [http://www.dpxq.com/hldcg/search/view_u_41684.html Borrowing the cannon to use the horse]</ref>

== Title ==

The title means "secrets inside the orange" and alludes to a Tang-dynasty tale of chess-playing immortals. In the story "The Man of Baqiong" (巴邛人) from Niu Sengru's (牛僧孺) collection ''Records of the Strange'' (玄怪錄), a householder in Baqiong cuts open two unusually large oranges and finds two white-haired elders inside each, playing at 象戲 (象戲); one of them remarks, "the joy inside the orange is no less than that of Mount Shang" (橘中之樂，不減商山).<ref name="ref-5">Niu Sengru (牛僧孺), ''Records of the Strange'' (玄怪錄), volume 3, "The Man of Baqiong" (巴邛人). Tang dynasty. [https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/%E7%8E%84%E6%80%AA%E9%8C%84/%E5%8D%B73 Wikisource transcription]</ref> Later Chinese writing derives from the story both the byname "orange play" (橘中戲) for xiangqi and the titles of Ming manuals such as ''Secrets Inside the Orange''.<ref name="ref-6">China Central Television (中央電視台) (4 June 2007). "[https://news.cctv.com/special/zgctty/20070604/100723.shtml The game of go and chess: the development of Chinese xiangqi]" [博弈篇：中國象棋的發展歷程]. CCTV (央視網). Section on 橘中戲: the tale of the man of Baqiong, and the statement that the titles of the Ming manuals 橘中秘 and 橘中樂 derive from it.</ref>

The compiler's elder brother described the naming in his preface: after reading the manuscript he exclaimed that it was "the secret treasure inside the orange" (此橘中秘寶也), and "gave it the name ''Secrets Inside the Orange''" (顏其名曰橘中秘).<ref name="ref-1" /> Both characters of the first word appear in the tradition: the 1632 title page is described with 桔, while the manuscript copy in the Palace Museum and the 1936 Shanghai printing use 橘.<ref name="ref-2" /><ref name="ref-7">''Secrets Inside the Orange'' (橘中祕), manuscript copy in the Palace Museum, reproduced with the Go manuals ''Manual of Endings'' (官子譜) and ''The Juyi Hall Go Manual'' (居易堂圍棋譜) in the ''Palace Museum Rare Books Series'' (故宮珍本叢刊). Facsimile, preface in cursive script, editorial rules, complete instructions, table of contents in four volumes.</ref><ref name="ref-1" />

== The compiler and the prefaces ==

The endgame preface is signed "compiled by Zhu Jinzhen, style name Jinzhi, of Wuyuan" (武原朱晉楨進之甫輯), and the complete games are headed "Zhu Jinzhen of Donghai, style name Jinzhi, compiler" (東海進之朱晉楨輯).<ref name="ref-8">Liu Jianqing (劉劍青) and Liu Jian (劉健), compilers. ''Detailed Explanation of Secrets Inside the Orange'' (桔中秘詳解). Chengdu: Shurong Chess and Go Press (蜀蓉棋藝出版社). Preface by Jia Titao (賈題韜); authors' preface; the original preface; songs (p. 2); complete instructions (p. 3); endgame preface (p. 226) and endgames (pp. 227–290).</ref><ref name="ref-1" /> Two prefaces by his elder brother survive. One is dated to the spring of 1632 (崇禎壬申孟夏) and signed "the layman Wuzhu" (無住居士); the other, printed in the 1936 edition, is dated "the year ''zhaoyang zuoe''" (癸酉, 1633) and signed by Zhu Yiwei of Donghai (東海朱翼維).<ref name="ref-2" /><ref name="ref-1" />

Both prefaces tell the same two stories about the compiler. On a campaign in Yunnan (奉節滇南) he turned chess to military use, saying afterwards, "I merely applied the way of the elephant game to the conduct of war" (予僅以象戲之道施諸行軍耳). During the crisis of 1629, when his brother commanded the defence of the Guangning Gate (廣寧門) in the capital against what the preface calls a mob of scoundrels (群醜), the younger man showed no alarm, comparing the situation to a game: "facing the enemy is like facing a guest across the board" (與敵對壘如與客對枰耳).<ref name="ref-1" /><ref name="ref-2" /> The 1632 preface closes on the same image: "though the orange is narrow, one feels the world wide; though victory and defeat are divided, one forgets the thought of contention" (橘中雖隘，自覺天地之寬；勝負雖分，竟忘角逐之想).<ref name="ref-2" />

== Plan and contents ==

The editorial rules (凡例) state the plan in a single line: "four volumes in all; volumes one and two are complete games, volumes three and four are endgames, and the volumes are in no disorder" (全部四卷，一卷二卷全局，三卷四卷殘局，卷帙並無舛錯).<ref name="ref-2" /> The complete games are divided by move order and odds: twenty games with the first move (得先), thirteen games yielding the first move (讓先), and eighteen games at odds (讓子) — ten at the odds of a horse and eight at the odds of both horses.<ref name="ref-4" /><ref name="ref-8" /> Most of them belong to the two cannon families, the same-direction cannons (順手炮) and the opposite-direction cannons (列手炮); the screen-horse formation, the single-horse formation and the elephant opening also appear.<ref name="ref-2" /> Each game is given as a main line with numbered variations (變) branching from it, and the editorial rules explain the score: the figures for "level" moves and for the advances and retreats of horses, advisors and elephants name a square, while the figures for chariot, cannon and pawn advances count the points moved.<ref name="ref-2" />

The front matter carries instructional verse as well. Songs for the openings (歌訣) give a stanza each to the central cannon, the advisor's-corner cannon, the flying cannon, the elephant opening and the method of breaking it.<ref name="ref-1" /><ref name="ref-8" /> The ''Complete Instructions'' (全旨) summarise the doctrine in prose: "though chess is a small art, its meaning is subtle; one gains only through concentration, and only by following method can one surpass" (棋雖曲藝，義頗精微，必專心然後有得，必合法然後能超), followed by maxims for each formation — "with the same-direction cannons, first make the chariot mobile; with the opposite-direction cannons, secure the advisors" (順手炮，先要車活；列手炮，須補士牢) — and for the conduct of the game — "sacrifice material only for the initiative; do not fall behind in capturing" (棄子須要得先，捉子莫教落後), "when ahead, do not be hasty; when the chariot is gone, calm the mind; when strong, seek the win; when weak, seek the draw" (得先時，切忌著忙；失車去，還教心定；子力猛，必須求勝；子力寬，即便尋和).<ref name="ref-1" /><ref name="ref-8" /> The 1936 printing opens the games with a diagram of the starting array and a verse on the movement of the pieces, from "the general never leaves the nine-palace" (將軍不離九宮內) to "the pawn advances only one point, and once across the river has no fixed path" (惟卒止能行一步，過河橫進退無蹤).<ref name="ref-1" />

== Complete games ==

=== The horse sacrifice ===

The first game of the first section, "Same-direction cannons, ranked chariot against filed chariot, sacrificing the horse" (順炮橫車破直車棄馬局), is the manual's signature lesson and is known in later writing as "the thirteen-move horse sacrifice" (弃馬十三着, also 弃馬十三招 or 舍馬十三招).<ref name="ref-9">Encyclopaedia entry "[https://www.baike.com/wiki/%E5%BC%83%E9%A9%AC%E5%8D%81%E4%B8%89%E7%9D%80/19916252 Thirteen-move horse sacrifice]" [弃马十三着]. Baike.com (百科). Names of the line and its place as the first game of ''Secrets Inside the Orange''.</ref><ref name="ref-4" /> Red opens with the central cannon and a ranked chariot, allows Black to take a horse with 6... c2+7, brings the chariots to the sixth file, and mates with 13. C8=5 on Red's thirteenth move.<ref name="ref-4" /><ref name="ref-10">Chinese Xiangqi Score Network (中國象棋棋譜網). Digitised ''Secrets Inside the Orange'' (橘中秘全局譜) after the annotated edition of Li Geng (李浭) and Yang Dian (楊典): twenty games with the first move and thirteen yielding the first move, with modern notes. [https://www.xiangqiqipu.com/Category/List-129.html Index] · [https://www.xiangqiqipu.com/Category/View-8289.html Game 1]</ref>

<xiangqi-player>
{
"id": "horse-sacrifice",
"initialFen": "rnbakabnr/9/1c5c1/p1p1p1p1p/9/9/P1P1P1P1P/1C5C1/9/RNBAKABNR w - - 0 1",
"moves": [
"h3e3",
"h8e8",
"h1g3",
"h10g8",
"i1i2",
"i10h10",
"i2d2",
"h10h4",
"d2d9",
"b10a8",
"a1a2",
"b8b1",
"b3b8",
"g8h10",
"e3e7",
"f10e9",
"a2d2",
"e10f10",
"d9d10",
"e9d10",
"d2f2",
"e8f8",
"f2f8",
"f10e10",
"b8e8"
],
"initialPly": 0,
"annotations": {
"12": "Black accepts the offered horse: 6... c2+7.",
"25": "Red mates with 13. C8=5."
},
"caption": "The first game of the 得先 section: the horse-sacrifice line (弃马十三着), mate on Red's thirteenth move"
}
</xiangqi-player>

The notes attached to the modern transcription record that Black's capture with 6... c2+7 is now considered worse than 6... a6+5, and that 4... r8+6 has long since been replaced by 4... r8+4; the line itself survives as a trap and a lesson in the value of open lines.<ref name="ref-10" />

=== Screen horses against the central cannon ===

The last game of the first section, "Screen horses break the central cannon" (屏風馬破當頭炮局), is the manual's venture into the formation that the next generation's literature would make its own: Red develops both horses to the screen-horse points, and Black answers with the central cannon (1... c8=5), so that the game becomes a study of the same matchup that the ''Plum Blossom Manual'' later put at the centre of its eight games on the screen horses.<ref name="ref-3" /><ref name="ref-4" /> The recorded line runs to 17. +R=5, when the front chariot takes the advisor on the central file.<ref name="ref-4" />

<xiangqi-player>
{
"id": "screen-horses",
"initialFen": "rnbakabnr/9/1c5c1/p1p1p1p1p/9/9/P1P1P1P1P/1C5C1/9/RNBAKABNR w - - 0 1",
"moves": [
"h1g3",
"h8e8",
"b1c3",
"h10g8",
"g4g5",
"i10h10",
"i1h1",
"h10h4",
"c1e3",
"c7c6",
"d1e2",
"b8c8",
"a1d1",
"h4g4",
"h3h10",
"g8h10",
"h1h10",
"g4g3",
"b3b7",
"g7g6",
"b7i7",
"g10i8",
"d1d9",
"b10a8",
"h10h7",
"e7e6",
"h7d7",
"f10e9",
"i7e7",
"e10f10",
"e7e9",
"d10e9",
"d9e9"
],
"initialPly": 0,
"annotations": {
"4": "Black answers the screen-horse formation with the central cannon, 1... c8=5.",
"33": "The recorded line ends with 17. +R=5, the front chariot taking the advisor on the central file."
},
"caption": "Screen horses against the central cannon: the twentieth game of the 得先 section"
}
</xiangqi-player>

== Endgames ==

The endgame section has its own preface, the 殘局說 ("on endgames"), signed by Zhu Jinzhen himself. It argues that endgames are the most teachable part of the game: "endgames complete what the play of full boards leaves unfinished. A full board has many pieces and is hard to understand; an endgame has few pieces and is easy to grasp, and is all the more worth learning from" (棋有殘局，補全盤之未備也。全盤子多而難明，殘局子少而易悟，尤可取法). The author distinguishes the two errors of judgement that endgames expose — attacking when a draw should be held, and agreeing to a draw when a win is there — and says that he collected his material from older scores, "working from the old manuals with all my thought ... one hundred and forty positions in all, adding explanations in five cases out of ten and correcting mistakes in three" (是集，余從舊譜，殫精畢慮……共得百四十局，伸其說者十之五，訂其謬者十之三), with the aim that "the won should be won and the drawn drawn" (使勝者必勝，和者必和).<ref name="ref-8" /><ref name="ref-2" /> The received manuals contain 137 positions rather than 140, a discrepancy noted by modern editors.<ref name="ref-8" />

The positions are catalogued by material — double chariots, chariot and cannon, single chariot, horse and pawn, cannon and pawn, and so on — and each is given a short solution with the result marked as a win or a draw.<ref name="ref-1" /> Among them is ''Borrowing the Cannon to Use the Horse'' (借炮使馬), an endgame in which a single horse does the attacking and a cannon supplies the final check. In the recorded solution the horse passes in front of the palace, withdraws, returns, and finally settles on 17. H5+4 directly in the general's file, where it serves as the screen for the cannon's check; Black has no reply.<ref name="ref-4" />

<xiangqi-player>
{
"id": "borrowed-cannon",
"initialFen": "2bak4/4a4/1C2b4/4pNp2/9/9/9/2n1BCN2/3rAp3/1cBAK4 w - - 0 1",
"moves": [
"f7g9",
"e10f10",
"g3f5",
"e9f8",
"f5g7",
"f8e9",
"g7f5",
"e9f8",
"f5e7",
"f8e9",
"e7f5",
"e9f8",
"f5d6",
"f8e9",
"d6f7",
"e9f8",
"f7d8",
"f8e9",
"g9f7",
"e9f8",
"f7h6",
"f8e9",
"h6f5",
"e9f8",
"f5g7",
"f8e9",
"g7h9",
"f10f9",
"h9f8",
"f9f8",
"d8e6",
"f8f9",
"e6f8"
],
"initialPly": 0,
"annotations": {
"1": "Red begins the horse manoeuvre with 1. H4+3.",
"33": "17. H5+4 mates: the horse becomes the cannon's screen."
},
"caption": "Borrowing the cannon to use the horse (借炮使马), the fourth endgame of the manual's endgame section"
}
</xiangqi-player>

Modern editors accept the section's value for teaching while correcting much of its detail. Liu Jianqing and Liu Jian, whose annotated edition prints the endgames with revised solutions, note that the conclusions of the original reflect the limits of its time, and Jia Titao's preface to the same edition treats the book as required reading whose errors should be corrected rather than repeated.<ref name="ref-8" />

== Textual history ==

The first printing is dated to 1632. Its title page is described with the three large characters 桔中秘, the five characters 金鵬十八變 ("The Golden Roc's Eighteen Transformations") above them, and 江左書林藏板 below; the nephew-collators Zhu Erye (朱爾鄴) and Zhu Jingxiao (朱景蕭) are named on the page, and the preface, editorial rules, complete instructions, endgame preface and verses follow.<ref name="ref-2" /> The heading ''Golden Roc's Eighteen Transformations'' links the book to an older opening tradition, and it was kept in later reprints: it stands above the title in the 1936 Shanghai printing and on the cover of the Republican lithograph.<ref name="ref-1" /><ref name="ref-11" />

A manuscript copy of the manual, with a cursive preface and a table of contents in four volumes, survives in the Palace Museum and was reproduced in the ''Palace Museum Rare Books Series'' together with two Go manuals, the ''Manual of Endings'' (官子譜) and ''The Juyi Hall Go Manual'' (居易堂圍棋譜).<ref name="ref-7" /> Qing printings include the Weigen Studio (味根齋) edition of 1853 and the blocks of Jiangzuo Shulin (江左書林), Huiwentang (會文堂) and Jinshangshuye Hall (金閶書業堂). The printings differ in the way the endgames are counted — some carry 137 diagrams and others 131, with three positions added as notes, so that copies are described variously as containing 137, 140 or 134 positions.<ref name="ref-2" />

Republican-era and modern editions followed: a lithograph from the Chess Study Society (棋學研究社), the 1936 typeset edition of the Shanghai Chinese Literature Book Company with Zhou Bowen's collation, and annotated editions by Liu Jianqing and Liu Jian, and by Li Geng and Yang Dian, whose notes are reproduced in the digital collections.<ref name="ref-11">''Secrets Inside the Orange'' (橘中秘象棋譜). Lithograph edition of the Chess Study Society (棋學研究社), with ''Golden Roc's Eighteen Transformations'' (金鵬十八變) at the head of the cover; title page, editorial rules, songs, complete instructions and volume one.</ref><ref name="ref-1" /><ref name="ref-8" /><ref name="ref-2" />

== Reception ==

Later Chinese writers treat the manual as one of the foundations of the game's literature. Jia Titao, prefacing the annotated edition, calls it "a book that every student of xiangqi must read", while warning that it has many faults when measured by modern standards and that its errors need to be corrected rather than copied.<ref name="ref-8" /> Liu Jianqing writes that its authority with learners is of long standing, because it had brought the openings into a system and because its attacks are compelling to play through.<ref name="ref-8" /> The manual's own editorial rules anticipate the criticism: one of them admits that the replies in the complete games "cannot be called anything but poor", and says they are used deliberately to bring out the strength of the first player.<ref name="ref-2" /><ref name="ref-8" /> The collection's version note adds that the book was the most frequently reprinted xiangqi manual of the Ming and Qing periods.<ref name="ref-2" />

== See also ==

* Same-direction cannons
* Opposite-direction cannons
* Screen horses
* Plum Blossom Manual
* Elegant Pastime
* Golden Roc's Eighteen Transformations

== References ==
<references />