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I
n 1938, Japan held what was
then the most prodigious Go
match in the country: the
Meijin Retirement Match be-
tween 64-year-old Honinbo
Shūsai, a titan of Japanese Go,
and Kitani Minoru. The match started
on June 26 and, due to the poor health
condition of the aged Shūsai, went
through multiple adjournments before
it finally ended on December 4, lasting
almost half a year. During the first 120
moves each man played wonderfully,
bringing the match to one crisis after
another. It was hard to tell who would
come out the winner. In expectation
of a fierce fight, the ailing Shūsai had
even dyed his hair black. As Shūsai
adjourned the match after the 120th
move, Minoru wrote down the 121th
move and had it sealed up. Those who
had been expecting to witness a classic
match were shocked and gravely disap-
pointed the next day, when the match
was resumed with Minoru inexplicably
placing his black stone on a side point,
far away from the fierce central battle-
field, with the intention of adjourning
the match again. In so doing, Minoru
had broken the rhythm of the entire
match and caused a tremendous shock
to Shūsai’s spirit. Minoru soon won the
match. Not long after that, Honinbo
Shūsai died of illness.
In a modern Go match, such a tactic
as Minoru’s is not altogether inexcus-
able; however, the 121th move almost
totally put out the passion for the game
in Shūsai, who, in his constant pursuit
of an ideal game, did not consider win-
ning itself his ultimate goal. Japanese
writer Kawabata Yasunari, who had been
invited to watch this match, had all sorts
of feelings welling up in his mind and
wrote a novel, The Master of Go, im-
mortalizing the match in history.
Of all the human activities of the
world, board games are probably the
only ones capable of having two perfect
strangers sitting facing each other for sev-
eral days running without talking. Of all
the board games, Go is probably the only
one that values rhythm and aesthetics as
much as it does intense competition.
Go, an ancient game that has its ori-
gins in China, remains an inexhaustible
source of fascination.
No two Gomatches
have ever been played
identically.
Go is said to have been invented
earlier than 2,000 BC, by Yao, an an-
cient Chinese emperor. According to
the ancient Chinese historic document,
Shiben (Origins of Dynasties), “Yao
invented the game of Go and Danzhu
became good at it.” Initially, Yao’s son,
Danzhu, was intractable and not inter-
ested in learning. So, Yao invented Go
in order to mould Danzhu’s tempera-
ment to become receptive to education.
It is also said that Go was first used as
an imperial tool for divining celestial
phenomena. In traditional Chinese
society, “lyre-playing, chess, calligraphy,
and painting” were the “four arts” that
the lettered population was expected to
master. “Chess” referred to the game of
Go. For 4,000 years, Go has enjoyed
uninterrupted popularity in China,
where the ability to play the game has
usually been considered a sign of intel-
ligence and wisdom.
Go has a simple look: only hori-
zontal and vertical lines, and black and
white stones. The side that has occu-
pied more territory wins the game. It
is also very important to surround the
opponent’s stones, because a stone is
“captured” when it is surrounded on
four sides. Although Go is simple in
the extreme, its variations almost reach
infinity. Professional players need to be
able to calculate about 50-60 moves
ahead and, harder still, be able to com-
pare more than ten different changing
scenarios from which to choose the best
path. Besides having outstanding com-
putational skills, they have to possess an
Go seems to be a "battle" of the
road, but its essence is the pursuit of
harmony and balance.
CULTURE
Confucius Institute
VOLUME 17 | NO.6 NOV. 2011