The Chinese Moon Goddess and Chess

China Sends Lunar Goddess to the Moon Wed Oct 24, 2007 4:45pm IST Reuters - China launched its first moon orbiter on Wednesday amidst a blaze of patriotic propaganda celebrating the country's space ambitions and technological prowess. Here are some facts about the Chang'e One orbiter and China's lunar probe programme: -- The Chang'e One orbiter, named after a lunar goddess, blasted off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Centre in the southwestern province of Sichuan at 1005 GMT. It is expected to arrive in moon orbit on Nov. 5. ... ******************************************************************************** Many moons ago, when I was just getting started in researching the origins of chess, I tried to decipher the meaning (in English words) of Xiang Qi – the name the Chinese call their chess. I wasn’t convinced by the explanations given by chess historians that the words meant "elephant game" or "figural game." My approach was to break down the Chinese words into syllables and see what I could come up with. Here are some of my posts on the subject from the old Art Bell message board: Jan - 02:38am Feb 3, 1999 MST (#163 of 672) Located a Chinese/English dictionary that I figured out how to use (sort of). Under the english word "goddess" I found a pinyin chinese character definition of "chang" as "a moon goddess". This is interesting because another spelling or pronunciation for Xi'an (the Chinese province where the largest pyramids are located) is "Chang'an". Recall that the translation of chess from chinese to english characters is "xiangqi", and Ron and I speculated on a possible connection between the location of the chinese pyramids and the game of chess. So, Xi'an = Chang'an = possibly, goddess, a possible connection of the game, the goddess and pyramids... Also found at another dictionary site that "xian" is the name of a person, from "xu xian", meaning "madam white snake". I wonder if that was the formal name for the moon goddess??? Finally, chess, or any game similar to chess or any piece used in the game of chess is "k'i" "kei" or "qi", depending upon which set of chinese characters are used. "Chang" + "qi" = "Xiangqi", again connection between the goddess and chess. Here is a follow-up post: Jan - 05:08am Feb 3, 1999 MST (#164 of 672) I found a few further items. Under a search of "white", I found the following: "k'i", "kei" and "qi" meaning "a white gem; piece of jade; a jade like precious stone". Recall that these characters are also used to define the game of chess or chess pieces. Under a search of "xi", it came up with "clear; evident; clearly; distinct; fair; white (said of one's skin)". Finally, under a search of "moon", "xian" came up, meaning "first and last quarters of the moon". I think we have a decisive link between chess and the chinese moon goddess: how about "precious game of the moon goddess", or "precious game of the fair skinned goddess". Or, how about "precious game of the White Goddess" – the "White Goddess" being the book that Ricardo Calvo introduced me to a few months later when he joined this discussion we call The Weave. The Chief (Ricardo) participated in The Weave until his untimely death in September, 2002. That connection occurred to me just now – literally – as I was putting this post together. Duh, Jan! It’s been there since 2002 when Ricardo gave me the book. I just never went back and looked into The Weave. We have all of the posts from The Weave archived at Goddesschess. Here is an account of how Chang’o became Goddess of the Moon. Interestingly, it reports that prior to her marriage, Chang’o was an attendant of the Queen Mother of the West (Xi Wang Mu), who was the sponsoring Goddess of the ancient Chinese game Liubo. Liubo reached its height of popularity during the Han Dynasty (c. 220 BCE – 220 CE). Some scholars have suggested that Liubo is a predecessor of Xiang qi. The Moon Festival is a harvest festival, celebrated mid-way through autumn, using the Lunar Calendar. I couldn’t help but notice the very large and beautiful full moon last night. Perhaps it is Chang’o, who is happy because her husband is visiting :)