Ostensible ritual aggression in Chinese <i>Xiangqi</i> games

Abstract In this study, we examine ostensible aggression in xiangqi , a Chinese chess game played in public spaces. Xiangqi matches are conflictive: onlookers circle the chessboard and often halt the game, arguing with the players. The players tend to argue back and also address each other in a loud voice. Such arguments, however, rarely trigger negative consequences, and it is therefore reasonable to hypothesise that aggression in xiangqi games is ostensible. We rely on a bipartite approach to investigate the ostensible nature of aggression in xiangqi games. First, we analyse a corpus of audio-recorded xiangqi games by interpreting xiangqi as an interaction ritual and focusing on patterns of aggressive behaviour in these games. Our results show that aggression in xiangqi games have typically ostensible characteristics from an etic perspective. We then examine elicited data, representing the results of an assessment task and semi-structured interviews conducted with the participants of the xiangqi games we audio-recorded, in order to investigate whether the participants themselves interpret aggression in xiangqi as ostensible. Our results show that aggression in xiangqi does not trigger face-threat for the participants who have the motivations of entertainment, building a community and enjoying the thrill of argument to engage in ostensibly aggressive behaviour during the games.