IF xiangqi, or Chinese chess, is the most popular board game in China today, then it’s predecessor weiqi, or Go, has long been widely revered in the country as a most important icon of Chinese culture. And thanks to its incredibly simple rules, countless variations of strategy and lasting dynamism, weiqi has enthralled players for thousands of years.

According to historical records, the game, known as Yi in its early years, was invented by the legendary Chinese emperor Yao in the mid-23rd century BC in order to enlighten his son, Dan Zhu.

Seeing that his son had a foul temper and didn’t like to study, the emperor was rather worried. He decided to look for something that could help educate his son and transform his demeanor. A simple board game came into his mind.

The two-player, abstract strategy game’s few rules could be quickly demonstrated and easily grasped. Using black and white stones, respectively, the players take turns placing their stones on the vacant cross points of the board. The purpose is to surround a larger total territory while avoiding capture by the opponent.

Despite its simple rules, it’s been said that the possibilities of moves on the board outnumber the total number of atoms in the visible universe. The emperor’s son was immediately engrossed and after he became addicted to the game, he was a changed man.

Soon, the game turned out to be a favorite intelligent contest among scholars and cultured aristocrats. It was deemed then a game of skill, wisdom and refinement, as it still considered today.

By the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BC), it became one of the four essential arts among the Chinese literati. The other three were lute-playing, calligraphy and painting.

The scene of two figures playing Yi, which was later called weiqi, appeared in numerous traditional Chinese paintings. And the image of a player holding a stone over the board looking for a place to put it was later sublimed into a popular Chinese idiom, juqi buding, meaning “hesitant to make a move.” The expression is still widely used today.

In the Chinese history, many emperors were known either as great fans of weiqi or excellent players themselves. For instance, Cao Cao (AD 155-220), a Chinese warlord and later Emperor of the Kingdom of Wei, was described as a great weiqi player.

It also seems that weiqi playing was a long tradition in Cao’s family as his two sons were known as weiqi prodigies and a set of pebble Weiqi stones were found in Cao’s grandfather Cao Teng’s tomb when it was excavated in early 1970s.

Archaeological findings indicate that the game was once played on a board of 17x17, but later the board was enlarged to 19x19. Many scholars have pointed out that the 19x19 board has many scientific merits and it also greatly increases the dynamism of the game in comparison of the 17x17 board.

With its evolvement, weiqi continued to gain in popularity and eventually, it became a game for all kinds of players. In addition to scholars and cultured aristocrats, it was also played by generals, musicians, artists, traders, entrepreneurs and even children, who could all readily learn the game and reach a high level of mastery.

Later, it spread to Korea and Japan. Some historians claim the game was introduced into Korea as early as 1000 BC, but historical records indicate that it happened around 108 BC. In Korea, the game has been called Baduk.

A 1980 edition of the Japanese encyclopedia says Go was introduced into the country through Korea between the first and fourth centuries and was called Go or Igo in Japan.

In both countries the game was first played in imperial courts and among the elite classes, and later became popular among the general public and also an important part of their culture.

In the following centuries, weiqi reached more countries in East Asia. However, it was not until the 16th century that the game began to appear in the West, where it became popular 300 years later.

Today, weiqi continues to attract players from all around the world. In China, South and North Korea and Japan, top weiqi players and tournaments are closely followed by the public. Important competitions are often broadcast live on television and schools can be found everywhere for teaching children, some as young as 3 years old, to play the game.

In many Western countries, such as Britain and the United States, there are nationwide Go associations which organize competitions and train players.

Also today, people are exploring the game’s educational merits. For instance, some weiqi experts claim that playing weiqi can help improve business skills, such as consistency and stability; enhance one’s negotiation skills, such as trading, giving and taking, and exchanging; upgrade one’s critical thinking skills through critical decision making and problem solving; and develop one’s prioritization skills by deciding on which part of the board is critical, urgent or important.

Thanks to its long history and continuing popularity today, weiqi is considered one of the world’s classic games.

The Weiqi board

Ancient Chinese tried to correlate astronomy and meteorology with the 19x19 Weiqi. For example, during the Song Dynasty (AD 960-1279), Zhang Yi, author of the “Thirteen Passages of Weiqi,” a milestone in China’s Weiqi literature, explained the thinking behind the 19x19 board.

He said: “There are 360 plus one intersections (on the board), one is the beginning of all numbers, which occupies the center point and drives the whole board.

“And the figure 360 represents the number of days in a year, the four corners for the four seasons and the 90 intersections in each quadrant for each of the 90 days in every season.”

Editor's Note

CHINA boasts a very long history and a rich cultural heritage. Many ancient traditions are still very much alive today. Some of those, such as taichi and Chinese Chess, are ubiquitous around the country. Others, like Suzhou embroidery and Thangka art, are preserved in specific regions or practiced by different ethnic groups.

In this column, writer Peter Zhang and arts editor Chen Jie will offer readers insight into some of the most popular living cultural practices in the country, as well as some of the fascinating stories behind each of them.

This series of articles is also intended to help readers obtain a better understanding of traditional Chinese culture and the people who helped create it.