Ask for Chinese chess characters

Question

I want to reproduce this image but I cant' find any information about these characters. I also don't know Chinese.

cchess, xq are outdated. (I think so)

So, I want to know whether there is a package to do type them in LaTeX as

\documentclass[12pt]{article}
\usepackage{ ??? }

\begin{document}
 ...
\end{document}

Answer 1

Although the OP doesn't want to have the image drawn, I still tried and came up with the following, which only uses the calc library with TikZ and provides an easy way to input the diagram and symbols:

\documentclass[border=1mm]{standalone}
\usepackage[dvipsnames]{xcolor}
\usepackage{tikz}
\usetikzlibrary{calc}

\usepackage{xeCJK}
\setCJKmainfont{AR PL UKai TW}

\newenvironment{threekingdoms}{
  \begin{tikzpicture}
    \foreach \i in {1,...,3} {
      \begin{scope}[rotate around={{120*(\i-1)}:(0:0)}]
        \foreach \j in {0,...,4} {
          \coordinate (p\i0\j) at ([shift={(240:5)}]120:{\j*5/9});
          \coordinate (p\i8\j) at ([shift={(300:5)}]60:{\j*5/9});
          \coordinate (p\i4\j) at (270:{cos(30)*5-cos(30)*10/9*\j});
          \coordinate (p\i2\j) at ($(p\i0\j)!0.5!(p\i4\j)$);
          \coordinate (p\i1\j) at ($(p\i0\j)!0.5!(p\i2\j)$);
          \coordinate (p\i3\j) at ($(p\i2\j)!0.5!(p\i4\j)$);
          \coordinate (p\i6\j) at ($(p\i4\j)!0.5!(p\i8\j)$);
          \coordinate (p\i5\j) at ($(p\i4\j)!0.5!(p\i6\j)$);
          \coordinate (p\i7\j) at ($(p\i6\j)!0.5!(p\i8\j)$);
        }
      \end{scope}
    }
}{
  \end{tikzpicture}
}

\newcommand{\board}[1][none]{
  \fill[#1] (p100) -- (p180) -- (p200) -- (p280) -- (p300) -- (p380) -- cycle;
  \foreach \i in {1,...,3} {
    \draw (p\i00) -- (p\i04) -- (p\i44) -- (p\i84) -- (p\i80) -- cycle;
    \foreach \j in {1,...,7} {
        \draw (p\i\j0) -- (p\i\j4);
    }
    \foreach \j in {1,...,3} {
        \draw (p\i0\j) -- (p\i4\j) -- (p\i8\j);
    }
    \draw (p\i30) -- (p\i41) -- (p\i52)
          (p\i50) -- (p\i41) -- (p\i32);
  }
  \draw (p384) -- (p104) 
        (p184) -- (p204)
        (p284) -- (p304)
        (p344) -- (p144) -- (p244) -- cycle;
}

\newcommand{\piece}[3]{
  \def\fieldcolor{\ifcase#1\relax\or BrickRed\or PineGreen\or RoyalBlue\else black\fi}
  \def\markadv{A}
  \def\markcan{C}
  \def\markchr{R}
  \def\markele{E}
  \def\markgen{G}
  \def\markhrs{H}
  \def\marksol{S}
  \def\markban{B}
  \def\fieldfigure{
    \if#2\markadv\ifnum#1=1 仕\else 士\fi\else
    \if#2\markcan\ifnum#1=1 炮\else\ifnum#1=2 礮\else 砲\fi\fi\else
    \if#2\markchr 車\else
    \if#2\markele\ifnum#1=1 相\else\ifnum#1=2 向\else 象\fi\fi\else
    \if#2\markgen\ifnum#1=1 蜀\else\ifnum#1=2 吳\else 魏\fi\fi\else
    \if#2\markhrs 馬\else
    \if#2\marksol\ifnum#1=1 兵\else\ifnum#1=2 勇\else 卒\fi\fi\else
    \if#2\markban\ifnum#1=1 火\else\ifnum#1=2 風\else 旗\fi\fi\else
    \fi\fi\fi\fi\fi\fi\fi\fi
  }
  \node[circle, draw, double, \fieldcolor, fill=white, inner sep=0pt] at (p#3) {\fieldfigure};
}

\begin{document}

    \begin{threekingdoms}
        \board[Apricot!10]
        
        % first argument: player 
        %   1 = Shu 
        %   2 = Wei
        %   3 = Wu
        % second argument: figure 
        %   A = advisory 
        %   C = cannon 
        %   R = chariot
        %   E = elephant
        %   G = general
        %   H = horse
        %   S = soldier
        %   B = banner
        % third argument: position
        %   first digit: field (1 = bottom, 2 = left, 3 = right)
        %   second digit: column (0 to 8, 0 being the leftmost line)
        %   third digit: row (0 to 4, 0 being the outermost line)
        
        \piece{1}{S}{103}
        \piece{1}{S}{123}
        \piece{1}{S}{143}
        \piece{1}{S}{163}
        \piece{1}{S}{183}
        
        \piece{1}{C}{112}
        \piece{1}{B}{132}
        \piece{1}{B}{152}
        \piece{1}{C}{172}
        
        \piece{1}{R}{100}
        \piece{1}{H}{110}
        \piece{1}{E}{120}
        \piece{1}{A}{130}
        \piece{1}{G}{140}
        \piece{1}{A}{150}
        \piece{1}{E}{160}
        \piece{1}{H}{170}
        \piece{1}{R}{180}
        

        \piece{2}{S}{203}
        \piece{2}{S}{223}
        \piece{2}{S}{243}
        \piece{2}{S}{263}
        \piece{2}{S}{283}
        
        \piece{2}{C}{212}
        \piece{2}{B}{232}
        \piece{2}{B}{252}
        \piece{2}{C}{272}
        
        \piece{2}{R}{200}
        \piece{2}{H}{210}
        \piece{2}{E}{220}
        \piece{2}{A}{230}
        \piece{2}{G}{240}
        \piece{2}{A}{250}
        \piece{2}{E}{260}
        \piece{2}{H}{270}
        \piece{2}{R}{280}


        \piece{3}{S}{303}
        \piece{3}{S}{323}
        \piece{3}{S}{343}
        \piece{3}{S}{363}
        \piece{3}{S}{383}
        
        \piece{3}{C}{312}
        \piece{3}{B}{332}
        \piece{3}{B}{352}
        \piece{3}{C}{372}
        
        \piece{3}{R}{300}
        \piece{3}{H}{310}
        \piece{3}{E}{320}
        \piece{3}{A}{330}
        \piece{3}{G}{340}
        \piece{3}{A}{350}
        \piece{3}{E}{360}
        \piece{3}{H}{370}
        \piece{3}{R}{380}
    \end{threekingdoms}

\end{document}

If the question is only about how to input (certain) Chinese characters in LaTeX, there are several answers on this page that deal with how to set up LaTeX for typesetting Chinese. In order to type Chinese on your computer in general, you need an input method and at least some knowledge of Chinese, since most input methods can only be used if you know the writing order or pronunciation of the character. Best would indeed be just to copy the characters (for example from below).

Advisory:  士 or 仕
Cannon:    砲 or 炮 or 礮 (last one not used in traditional Xiangqi)
Chariot:   車 (traditional Xiangqi also uses 俥 as red variant)
Elephant:  象 or 相 or 向 (last one not used in traditional Xiangqi)
General:   魏 or 蜀 or 吳 (將 or 帥 in traditional Xiangqi)
Horse:     馬 (traditional Xiangqi also uses 傌 as red variant)
Soldier:   卒 or 兵 or 勇 (last one not used in traditional Xiangqi)
Bannermen: 旗 or 火 or 風 (not used in traditional Xiangqi)

This game is a special variant of the traditional Xiangqi that only features two players. Therefore, there are some special symbols used that will probably not be included in a package designed for typesetting Chinese chess, nor are they encoded in Unicode (yet). So, the best way really would be to draw these symbols on your own using the relevant Chinese characters.

Answer 2

This image is definitely something you can do with tikz. As for the fonts, there are a couple of packages for type-setting chinese, japanese, or korean characters out there.

Here is an example of how you could (possibly) achieve this:

\documentclass{standalone}
\usepackage{tikz}
\usepackage{fontspec}
\usetikzlibrary{shapes.geometric,calc,intersections}
\usepackage{xeCJK}
\setCJKmainfont{SimSun}

\begin{document}
    \begin{tikzpicture}[thick,piece/.style={circle,inner sep=1pt,fill=white,double},
        shu/.style={piece,draw=red,text=red},
        wu/.style={piece,draw=green,text=green},
        wei/.style={piece,draw=blue,text=blue}]
        %Board outline (and anchors)
        \node[regular polygon,regular polygon sides=6,draw,thick,minimum width=12cm] (b) {};
        
        %Center triangle
        \path[name path=tri1] ($(b.corner 1)!.0555!(b.corner 6)$) -- ($(b.corner 4)!.0555!(b.corner 5)$);
        \path[name path=tri2] ($(b.corner 5)!.0555!(b.corner 4)$) -- ($(b.corner 2)!.0555!(b.corner 3)$);
        \path[name path=tri3] ($(b.corner 6)!.0555!(b.corner 1)$) -- ($(b.corner 3)!.0555!(b.corner 2)$);
        \path[name intersections={of=tri1 and tri2,by=A}];
        \path[name intersections={of=tri1 and tri3,by=B}];
        \path[name intersections={of=tri2 and tri3,by=C}];
        \draw (A) -- (B) -- (C) -- cycle;       
        
        %% Shu field (red)
        \foreach \n [count=\i] in {1,...,9}
            \coordinate (rA\i) at ($(b.corner 4)!{(\n-1)*.125}!(b.corner 5)$);  

        \coordinate (rE1) at ($(b.corner 4)!.444!(b.corner 3)$);
        \path ($(b.corner 3)!.555!(b.corner 4)$) -- (A) coordinate[pos=.25] (rE2);
        \path ($(b.corner 3)!.555!(b.corner 4)$) -- (A) coordinate[pos=.50] (rE3);
        \path ($(b.corner 3)!.555!(b.corner 4)$) -- (A) coordinate[pos=.75] (rE4);
        \path ($(b.corner 3)!.555!(b.corner 4)$) -- (A) coordinate (rE5);
        \path ($(b.corner 5)!.444!(b.corner 6)$) -- (A) coordinate[pos=.75] (rE6);
        \path ($(b.corner 5)!.444!(b.corner 6)$) -- (A) coordinate[pos=.50] (rE7);
        \path ($(b.corner 5)!.444!(b.corner 6)$) -- (A) coordinate[pos=.25] (rE8);
        \coordinate (rE9) at ($(b.corner 5)!.444!(b.corner 6)$);
        
        \foreach \i in {2,...,8}
            \draw (rA\i) -- (rE\i) coordinate[pos=.25] (rB\i) coordinate[pos=.50] (rC\i) coordinate[pos=.75](rD\i);
        \foreach \n [count=\i] in {rB,rC,rD}{
            \coordinate (\n1) at ($(b.corner 4)!{\i*.111}!(b.corner 3)$);
            \coordinate (\n9) at ($(b.corner 5)!{\i*.111}!(b.corner 6)$);
            \draw (\n1) -- (\n5) -- (\n9);
        }
        \draw (rE1) -- (rE5) -- (rE9) (rC4) -- (rB5) -- (rA6) (rA4) -- (rB5) -- (rC6);
        
        \node[shu] at (rA1){車};
        \node[shu] at (rA2){馬};
        \node[shu] at (rA3){相};
        \node[shu] at (rA4){仕};
        \node[shu] at (rA5){蜀};
        \node[shu] at (rA6){仕};
        \node[shu] at (rA7){相};
        \node[shu] at (rA8){馬};
        \node[shu] at (rA9){車};
        \node[shu] at (rD1){兵};
        \node[shu] at (rD3){兵};
        \node[shu] at (rD5){兵};
        \node[shu] at (rD7){兵};
        \node[shu] at (rD9){兵};
        \node[shu] at (rC4){火};
        \node[shu] at (rC6){火};
        \node[shu] at (rC2){焙};
        \node[shu] at (rC8){焙};

        %% Wei field (blue)
        \draw ($(b.corner 1)!.555!(b.corner 2)$) -- (C) -- ($(b.corner 3)!.444!(b.corner 4)$);
        
        \node[wei] at (b.corner 2) {車};
        \node[wei] at ($(b.corner 2)!.125!(b.corner 3)$){馬};
        \node[wei] at ($(b.corner 2)!.250!(b.corner 3)$){象};
        \node[wei] at ($(b.corner 2)!.375!(b.corner 3)$){士};
        \node[wei] at (b.side 2) {魏};
        \node[wei] at ($(b.corner 2)!.625!(b.corner 3)$){士};
        \node[wei] at ($(b.corner 2)!.750!(b.corner 3)$){象};
        \node[wei] at ($(b.corner 2)!.875!(b.corner 3)$){馬};
        \node[wei] at (b.corner 3) {車};
        
        %% Wu field (green)
        \draw ($(b.corner 1)!.444!(b.corner 2)$) -- (B) --($(b.corner 5)!.555!(b.corner 6)$);
                
        \node[wu] at (b.corner 6) {車};
        \node[wu] at ($(b.corner 6)!.125!(b.corner 1)$){馬};
        \node[wu] at ($(b.corner 6)!.250!(b.corner 1)$){向};
        \node[wu] at ($(b.corner 6)!.375!(b.corner 1)$){士};
        \node[wu] at (b.side 6) {吳};
        \node[wu] at ($(b.corner 6)!.625!(b.corner 1)$){士};
        \node[wu] at ($(b.corner 6)!.750!(b.corner 1)$){向};
        \node[wu] at ($(b.corner 6)!.875!(b.corner 1)$){馬};
        \node[wu] at (b.corner 1) {車};
        
        
    \end{tikzpicture}
\end{document}

(I'm not sure, I got the geometry 100% right, but it should be close enough)

Answer 3

Xiangqi pieces were added to the Unicode Standard in June 2018 with the release of version 11.0.

They appear in the Chess Symbols Unicode block, which is U+1FA00–U+1FA6F, but few fonts actually contain these characters (none of the fonts on my Mac include them).

There is a free font, however, that does contain the characters (designed by the person who initiated the request for the characters to be added to Unicode) available at https://www.babelstone.co.uk/Fonts/Xiangqi.html

As for the remainder of the diagram, this would be done with TiKZ.