藏式象棋的名实与源流初探

A Study on the Name and Origin of Tibetan Chess

藏式象棋,藏语称作“特尔格”(ther ge)或“琼舟宇杰”(khyung vbrug g·yul vgyed)。目前学界对其名实与源流几无专门研究,只有西方学者根据梵藏对音,简单推测藏式象棋源于南亚的棋盘游戏catura?ga。文章利用丰富的历史文献,结合田野调查,认为西方学者记录的源于梵文的藏式象棋名称chandaraki,可与今安多藏语口语中藏棋的通称之一“久”(vgyig/vgrig)对应。象棋(Chess)这一棋种应该在12-15世纪就已初传藏地,至晚在17-18世纪已通过欧洲伏尔加河流域的卡尔梅克朝圣者传入喜马拉雅北麓,部分蒙古部落的朝圣者与学僧应是在藏传佛教的诸朝圣和学术中心习得象棋,并将它传到各自的家乡。包括藏式象棋在内的藏地棋盘游戏既是潜在的一大文化产业,又是促进各民族间交流交往交融的重要平台。研究旨在呼应当下我国乃至国际社会藏棋运动日益增长的社会需求,为进一步传承和推广这一优秀文化遗产夯实基础。

In Tibetan,chess is known as"ther ge"or"khyung vbrug g·yul vgyed".It is a special member of many Tibetan board game categories.Based on the historical sources and fieldwork,the authors argue that vgyig/vgrig,one of the common names for Tibetan board games today,corresponds with the Indic word chandaraki,the name of Tibetan chess recorded by Western scholars.Chandaraki originates from the Sanskrit word caturaṅga.Chess was introduced to the north of the Himalayas through the Kalmyk pilgrims living in Europe's Volga Valley in the 17th and 18th centuries.Pilgrims and monks from some Mongolian tribes may have learned to play chess while on their pilgrimage or in religious and academic centers in central Tibet,and then carried it back to their home⁃towns.