What is the difference between xiangqi and shogi?
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
They are very different games. Shogi has drops — captured pieces come back as yours, so material never leaves the board — plus widespread promotion, a 9×9 board of squares, and a king that moves freely. Xiangqi has no drops, no promotion, a confined general, a river, and a cannon.
Drops are the biggest divide
Because nothing is ever removed, shogi positions get more complicated as the game goes on and endgames in the xiangqi sense barely exist. Xiangqi simplifies: trades reduce material permanently, which is why its endgame theory is so developed and shogi's is so different in character.
A naming warning
In Japanese, 将棋 means shogi. Xiangqi is called シャンチー or 中国象棋, and calling it 中国将棋 — though people do search that — conflates two genuinely different games.
Related questions
Is shogi harder than xiangqi?
Shogi's drops make its branching factor far larger. Whether that makes it harder for a human is arguable.
Do they share an ancestor?
Yes, both descend from the same family of Indian and Chinese games, by different routes.
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