What does 炮二平五 mean?
These answers restate the rules implemented by our open-source engine, which follows the WXF laws and is regression-tested against the official 110-diagram repetition casebook. Where an answer refers to a specific position, that position lives on the linked reference page, where the build verifies it against the engine before publishing.
Direct answer
"Cannon on file two traverses to file five." 炮 is the cannon, 二 is the file it stands on (counted from Red's right), 平 means move sideways along the rank, and 五 is the destination file. It is the Central Cannon, the most played opening move in the game, written C2=5 in WXF.
Why this move specifically
File five is the central file, where the enemy general sits. After the move the cannon aims straight at it with only the two central soldiers in between — which is exactly one screen away from being a real threat, and creates an immediate problem Black must answer.
Reading the reply
Black's standard answer is 馬8進7 — horse on file 8 advances to file 7 — which defends the central soldier and develops a piece in one move. That is the first move of Screen Horses, and the pairing is the most common opening in xiangqi.
Related questions
Is 炮 the same as 砲?
Yes, both mean cannon and both are used. WXF writes C either way.
Why is the horse move written 馬8進7 and not a distance?
Horses move diagonally, so the final number is the destination file rather than a distance.
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