Divination and Guidance
Can shogi be used for divination, and can Chinese chess methods simply be applied?
English translation draft · Based on the Chinese article. This is not a word-for-word translation approved by Master Shengyuan.
Shogi can be used to develop a divination method, but requires new definitions rather than directly copying Chinese chess interpretations. Each piece’s meaning, total number, and how to draw a reading all need consideration together.
Chinese chess has thirty-two pieces, and shogi pieces do not correspond individually to them. Both being games with pieces does not justify identical meanings. Selection differs too. Round Chinese chess pieces can be mixed differently from pentagonal shogi pieces, which may require drawing instead. The number drawn and interpretation must fit the newly organized definitions.
Shogi’s pointed ends make orientation easy to identify. In our Chinese chess divination, however, upright and reversed positions differ relatively little; the piece’s own meaning remains primary. Easy orientation alone therefore does not make shogi interpretable by the same method. Its quantity, shape, and definitions must guide use.