---
title: "炮 or 砲? The Xiangqi Cannon's Two Characters · Xiangqi Master"
description: "Both are used and both mean cannon. 砲 has the stone radical, from siege engines that threw rocks; 炮 has the fire radical, from gunpowder."
url: https://xiangqimaster.com/blog/what-is-the-cannon-called-in-chinese
updated: 2026-09-22
source: Xiangqi Master (https://xiangqimaster.com)
license: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
---

# What is the cannon called in Chinese — 炮 or 砲?

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
>
> **Both**, and both are correct. **砲** carries the stone radical 石, from the trebuchet-style engines that threw rocks; **炮** carries the fire radical 火, from gunpowder artillery. Which side gets which varies between manufacturers and books, and nothing about play depends on it.

## A small piece of history in the character

The older weapon threw stones, and the older character reflects it. The gunpowder cannon came later, and so did 炮. That the piece exists at all is itself a dating clue: the cannon appears in xiangqi around the Song dynasty, which is when artillery became familiar in China.

## In notation

Chinese records use whichever character the set uses, and WXF romanisation sidesteps the question entirely with **C**. So 炮二平五 and 砲二平五 are the same move, written C2=5 either way.

## Related questions

Which one is Red's?

It varies by set and by publisher. There is no universal convention, unlike 帥/將.

How is it pronounced?

*pào*, for both characters.

## Related xiangqi resources

Chess in Chinese

The words for the game and every piece

Reading notation

炮二平五 and C2=5 — the same move, two ways

History of xiangqi

When the game was invented, and what is actually documented

## Try it on a real board

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