Classical Wei-Chi Masters. The Origin of Wei-chi Wei-chi (Japanese: Igo Korean: Baduk) is said to have been invented the legendary Chinese emperor Yao.

Classical Wei-Chi Masters

The Origin of Wei-chi

Wei-chi (Japanese: Igo Korean: Baduk) is said to have been invented the legendary Chinese emperor Yao during the mythical age of Chinese history as an instruction tool for his son on the art of war and government

There is evidence that by the Spring and Autumn Era wei-chi had already become quite popular among the upper class

Analects 17:22 The Master says, “How boring must it be to fill up your stomach everyday, wasting your mind like that! Aren’t there games like wei-chi to play? At least playing games is better than being idle and doing nothing.”

From the Han dynasty onwards, wei-chi had become firmly established among Chinese literati

The Role of Wei-Chi in Chinese culture

Wei-Chi is one of the Four Arts of the Chinese Scholar (The others being qin, calligraphy, and painting.

Wu Qingyuan, (J: Go Seigen) The great wei-chi master of the 20th century opines that wei-chi was initially used in astrology to predict the movement of the stars.

Taoist followers often are associated with wei-chi playing, whose black and white dichotomy naturally draws association with the Tao.

Common Nicknames for Wei-Chi

Shou Tan (Hand talk)手谈

Lan Ke (Withering Wood) 烂柯

Wu Lu (Crow and Swan)乌鹭

Mu Ye Hu (Cunning fox) 木野狐

Just what makes Wei-Chi fascinating?

Endless variations: The number of variations in Wei-Chi is said to be more than the number of atoms in the universe

Extreme freedom in play: One can play any spot on the board.

Every game is unique: No two wei-chi game is alike

Connections between wei-chi and life: Strategy in Wei-Chi ties into many aspects of life and philosophy.

Ten Commandments of Wei-Chi by Wang Ji Xin of Tang

I. Don’t be greedyII. Be cautious when invadingIII. Keep an eye on yourself when attacking enemiesIV. Sacrifice your stones to gain initiativeV. Leave inessential stones for more important ones

VI. When in danger, sacrificeVII. Wait for the right condition to attackVIII. Haste makes wasteIX. Protect yourself when opponent is strongX. Level out the situation if in an disadvantage

Introduction of Wei-Chi into Japan

The importance of Japan in the history of wei-chi“China gave birth to wei-chi; Japan brought wei-chi

up”Legends say that Kibi-no-Makibi (吉備真備 ) one of the

Students sent to Tang China, brought the game to Japan around the sixth century during the Nara Period (710-794)

Evidences indicate wei-chi was introduced at an earlier period by Buddhist monks into Japan

In the Taiho Edict, a prescription of rules on monkhood, wei-chi was listed along with qin as exceptions to the general ban on entertainment.

Wei-Chi in Japan (From Nara to Sengoku)

Wei-chi became popular as Buddhism boomed in Japan during the Kamakura period. Famous monks such as Nichiren were often skilled wei-chi players

With the advent of Muramachi Period, wei-chi had taken root among all ranks of society. Samurai, merchants, and daimyos alike enjoyed the game.

The beginning of Sengoku (Warring State) period and the chaos that followed signaled the dawn of a new era for wei-chi

Wei-Chi in the Sengoku Period

Various great daimyo were avid players of wei-chi

Famous match between Takeda Shingen and Sanada Masayuki.

Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideoyoshi, and Tokugawa Ieyasu all were strong amateur players in wei-chi

Legend has it that on the night of Honnoji Incident, a triple-ko occurred happened in one of the games that were played in the temple.

Meijin and Hon’inbo

The Meijin and Hon’inbo are the two most ancient titles in wei-chi.

Nikkai of the Nichiren Sect was the greatest player of the Azuchi-Momoyama Period

The title Meijin was said to first have been bestowed on Nikkai by Oda Nobunaga

The Hon’inbo was the name of a temple in Kyoto where Nikkai lived.

The Beginning of Classical Era of Wei-Chi in Japan

Under the patronage of Tokugawa Ieyasu, who founded the Edo Shogunate in 1603, Nikkai became the first head of the Honinbo school and took on the title Honinbo Sansa

At the same time Ieyasu created the position of Meijin-Godokoro, the official master of wei-chi in government. Honinbo Sansa thus also became the first Meijin-Godokoro.

A new event, Castle Games, was also introduced by the Bakufu. Every year the strongest wei-chi players were to gather in the presence of the shogun and play a series of games before him.

The Rise of Four Schools of Wei-Chi

The position of Meijin-Godokoro caused intense rivalry among the wei-chi schools of the time.

Four schools eventually came to be officially recognized by the Bakufu: Honinbo, Inoue, Yasui, and Hayashi

The heads of the schools competed against each other fiercely for the position of Meijin

Honinbo Doasku: “Former Saint” (1645-1702)

The greatest player of the Early Classical Era of Japanese Wei-Chi was Dosaku, hailed by posterity as the “Former Saint” of wei-chi (as distinguished from Shusaku, the “Latter Saint.”

Dosaku made numerous groundbreaking innovations in go theory, particularly the opening strategy

The first recorded international game in Japanese history occurred in 1682 between Dosaku and the Ryukyu player Binbihe. Dosaku won as white with four-stone handicap given to black

The Golden Era of Japanese Wei-Chi

The so-called Golden Era of wei-chi in Japan occurred during the mid-Edo period.

As economy stabilized and commerce boomed in Japan, more and more people took to learning wei-chi as their hobby in their leisure time.

The greatest names of this era were: Genjo, Jowa, Inseki, Shuwa, and Shusaku

Blood-Vomiting Game

One of the most famous games in classical Japanese wei-chi history

The pupil of Inseki, Akaboshi Intetsu, challenged the current Meijin Jowa

During the game Jowa made three so-called “Ghost Moves,” which overturned his disadvantaged situation to the shock of Intetsu

Unable to stand up to the pressure, Intetsu vomited blood onto the wei-chi table soon after the ghost moves were played

Honinbo Shusaku (1829-1862)

The greatest wei-chi prodigy during the Edo period

Pupil of ShuwaFamous for a steady,

balanced style of play as black.

Inventor of the Shusaku opening

Unsurpassed record of 19 consecutive wins in Castle Games

Died very young at the age of 34

Ear-Reddening Game

Another famous game in the history of wei-chi

Played between Gennan Inseki and Shusaku

Having fallen into a trap set by Inseki from the start, Shusaku struggled against his disadvantaged position until he played down the famous move which allowed him to win the game.

The Crises of Modernity

The political crises in later Bakufu Period caused turmoil in the wei-chi community

Government sponsored schools became destitute and were forced to disband as the power of the Bakufu over Japan collapsed

During this period of unrest, two outstanding wei-chi players were responsible for maintaining wei-chi tradition alive as Japanese society embarked on modernization.

Shuho and Shuei were regarded as the greatest masters during the “Transition Period” of Japan

The Last Honinbo/Meijin: Shusai

Born as Yasuhisa TamuraPupil to Shuho and later

ShueiChallenged the

strongest players of the time to a series of jubango and secured dominance

After Shuei’s passing he succeeded the position of Honinbo, and later acquired the Meijin title

The founding of Nihon-Kiin

Under Shusai’s leadership the wei-chi community recovers and starts to prospser

Backed by funding from Okura Kishichiro, the Nihon Kiin was founded with intention of uniting various Japanese wei-chi associations under one organization.

Initially some players, the most notable being Kaneichi, Shusai’s rival, resisted unification and challenged Shusai for Meijin title

The match between Kaneichi and Shusai went down as the most violent game in the history of wei-chi

A New Star: Wu Qing Yuan

Wu Qing Yuan (1914-) is regarded as one of the greatest players of the 20th century

Born in Fujian Province, China

Father Wu Yi was passionate about wei-chi and taught the game to Qing Yuan

Arrival in Japan

Wu demonstrated incredible ability at wei-chi in various matches against the top players in China

A Japanese merchant discovered the young genius and convinced Wu’s family to allow Wu to travel to Japan for further improvement at wei-chi

Wu became pupil of Segoe Kensaku in Japan and was initially granted the rank of three-dan after winning a two-stone handicap game against Shusai

Wu soon advanced his rank quickly through his excellent performances in various tournaments.

Revolution in Wei-Chi: New Fuseki

Before reaching 5-dan, Wu played in the style of Shusaku and received the epithet of “Invincible Black” for his unbeatable record as black

As Wu started to play more of white, he sought for innovations in the style of wei-chi playing

He met someone with similar goals: Kitani Minoru.

Together they started off the New Fuseki Movement that took the wei-chi world by storm

Wu Qingyuan (W) vs. Kosugi Tei

Game of the Century

As the New Fuseki movement gained more following, Shusai and the other conservatives strongly opposed against it

The stage is set for an ultimate showdown

In 1933 Wu gained the right to challenge Shusai in a newspaper-sponsored game that was held in anniversary of Shusai’s 60th birthday

This game would be the longest game in history, lasting from October 16, 1933 to January 29, 1934.

Three-Three, Star, Tengen

Wu plays black and immediately startles the world with his three unorthodox opening moves

The game became well-known even outside the wei-chi community and was viewed as an international duel between China and Japan which were then already in open hostility toward each other.

Wu received threats from nationalistic Japanese who demanded his life in event of his victory over Shusai

Shusai’s Privelege

Being Meijin and senior to Wu, Shusai had the privilege of suspending the game at any moment at his own will.

Suspension of the game allows Shusai to analyze the moves along with his disciples

Eventually at a crucial point in the game, one of Shusai’s disciples, Maeda Nobuaki, discovered a secret move that put Wu in a very difficult position and led to Shusai’s winning by two points.

The defeat of Wu, however, did not stop the wave of NewFuseki; the old era is giving way to the new

Meijin Retirement Game

In 1938, Honinbo Shusai at the age of 68 played his last game against Kitani Minoru in commemoration of his retirement

In the end he lost by 5.5 pts

The defeat of Shusai marks the end of the life of “Invincible Shusai.” With that, the old era fades as the new era arrives.

Kawabata Yasunari The Master of Go

After Shusai’s passing, Kawabata, the official reporter of the game, wrote the Master of Go, a semi-fictionalized account of events that took place during the game.

The Atomic Bomb Game

Played on August 6 1945 at Hiroshima between Hashimoto Utaro and Iwamoto Kaoru

The last game in the Honinbo final series

The bomb dropped at 8:15 a:m

The position of the game right at the time of the bomb has been immortalized in the history of wei-chi

The Twilight of Classic Wei-Chi: Wu Qingyuan

The period between the retirement of Shusai and the end of Wu’s career in 1961 is called the Wuqingyuan era which comprises the last phase of classic wei-chi

In this period Wu Qiyuan achieved an immortal record in his series of jubango against the strongest players of his day

Jubango/Ten Game Series

The jubango is an old practice in the history of wei-chi and consists of players playing ten games in a row which would determine their level of strength in relation to each other.

If a player loses more than 3 games in a row, his rank is automatically dropped down and from then he is forced to take handicaps from the opponent

For many players the jubango was a life-and-death endeavor. Losing at jubango causes great humiliation and disgrace

First Jubango: Kamakura

In the wake of Shusai’s retirement, a void is left in the leadership of the wei-chi world

Wu Qingyuan and Kitani Minori, both rising stars, were looked upon as the successors to Shusai

The newspaper company Yomiuri sponsored a jubango between Wu and Kitani that was to take place in Kamakura

Wu won the series and beat Kitani to a lower rank

Supremacy of Wu Qingyuan

In the following decade Wu Qingyuan battled against every top player of his generation in a series of jubango.

The result is he defeated of all them and lowered their rank, making himself the master player of his generation

Jubango Record against Top Players

Kitani Minoru (6-4) 1939-1940 Karigane Juichi (4-1) 1941-1942 Hashimoto Utaro (6-3-1) 1946-1948 Iwamoto Kaoru (7-2-1) 1948-1949 Hashimoto Utaro (5-3-2) 1950-1951 Fujisawa Kuranosuke (7-2-1) 1951-1952 Fujisawa Kuranosuke (5-1) (Abandoned after being forced to

take handicap) 1952-1953 Sakata Eio (6-2) 1953-1954 Takagawa Kaku (8-2) 1955-1956 Last jubango

Visit to Taiwan

In 1951 Wu at the request of Chiang Kai-Shek visited Taiwan and gave public wei-chi demonstration games

In Taiwan he discovered Lin Haifeng (J: Rin Kaiho) and urged him to go to Japan to become a professional

Lin Haifeng would become the greatest player in the succeeding decades

From left: Lin Haifeng, Zhou Zhirou, Wu Qingyuan, Ying Changqi

An Unforeseen End

Although Wu established himself as the supreme leader in wei-chi, because of his Chinese citizenship he was barred from participating in tournaments

It was not until 1961, the start of the first Meijin tournament, that Wu was allowed to enter the first official tournament in his career

However, just as he was set on winning the tournament, he was run over by motorcycle which did lasting damage to his brain

Unable to think clearly owing to the brain damage, Wu retired from professional wei-chi and devoted himself to researching on the theory of the game.

The retirement of Wu marked the end of the classical era of wei-chi in Japan.