information:classification
System 2

A notation system partially described in A Manual of Chinese Chess and used by several computer software implementations describes moves in relative terms as follows:

The file numbers are counted from each player's right to each player's left.

In case there are two identical pieces in one file, symbols + (front) and – (rear) are used instead of former file number.Direction of movement is indicated via an operator symbol. A plus sign is used to indicate forward movement. A minus sign is used to indicate backward movement. A dot or period or equals sign is used to indicate horizontal or lateral movement. For a piece that moves diagonally (such as the horse or elephant), the plus or minus sign is used rather than the period.

Thus, the most common opening in the game would be written as:

According to World Xiangqi Federation (WXF), in the case of tripled, quadrupled, or quintupled soldiers (pawns), there is no need to specify the P for pawn. Instead, the soldiers are numbered starting from the frontmost soldier, and this number replaces the usual piece abbreviation. The file number is given immediately after as usual.

Thus the notation to move the middle of a set of tripled soldiers on the 5th file to the 4th file would be:

In older books written in Chinese the system is the same, except that: the names of the pieces are written in Chinese;the name for the cannon on both sides is 炮;the name for the horse on both sides is 馬;forward motion is indicated with 進 (pronounced jìn); backward motion is indicated with 退 (tuì); sideways motion is indicated with 平 (píng);and numbers are written in Chinese either for both players or for just Black.

Thus, the most common opening in the game might be written as: