History of the Game of Go

Mythological origins of the Game of Go

According to an old Chinese tradition, the Game of Go was invented by two dragons, Hei Zi (the black) and Bai Zi (the white); they wished to use this game to determine which of them was the more powerful. A third dragon, sent by the gods, had to look at their game and establish the score once it was  finished.

The rules they played with were the same than the one used nowadays, except for the ko rule, which forbid to endlessly take back a stone; this rule was not needed as the dragons were immortal thus infinitely patient. The dragons have been playing for thousands of years and every millennium, another dragon is sent by the gods to look at the game. There are currently five dragons looking at the game, and a sixth one shall be sent soon...

No one know with certainty when the Game of Go was invented. According to the legend, it was created by the emperor Shun whose son, Shang Jun, was not very brilliant; Shun was looking for a way to teach him the art of thinking. The Encyclopedia Britannica situate it's creation to 2306 BC, and the Encyclopedia Americana in 2300 BC. Whatever, they all agree on the high age of this game, which is more that 4.000 years old. First know under the name of Yi, he took lately the name "Wei Qi", which can be translated by "Game whose goal is to encircle". Nowadays, it is named WeiQi in China, Igo in Japan and Baduk in Korea. All those name will be used in this paper to refer to the Game of Go.

The first known written mention of the game of Go is way more recent: it is the book 25th year of Xiang Gong, from the Zhuo Zhuan, main commentary of the Spring and Autumn Annals, an old Chinese chronicle. The book was written in 559 BC and describe some rivalries between Xiang Gong and some adversaries he offended, the author saying that their actions were "going to fail as surely as the one who take a Go stone without first knowing where he is going to place it".

In 1999 was discovered the most ancient Goban known; it is a stone with 17x17 intersections, which was the standard form of the time, with two cavities to place the stones. It is estimated more that 3.000 years old. 

I will not go deeper into the mythological origins of this game: those old legends are necessary to understand where Go does come from and it is very interesting to discover more about the old obscure books of the legendary China, in is not the main point of this blog. Let us just notice one more fact: millineries before today, the Go had already a noticeable place in China. There were four "Royal Arts", the lute, the calligraphy, the painting and the Game of Go, and Go was said to be the most difficult one to master.

Evolution and expension in China

the popularity of the Game of Go was growing during the Xihan dynasty. The emperor Liu Bang, founder of this dynasty, was said in the Xi Jing Za Ji to "like admiring flowers and playing WeiQi". Sadly, there are very few written mentions of the Go from this period, so we do not know more about the perception of the game at this time; no recorded played game at this time is currently known, thus no one knows how strong the players were.

However, what we know is that the Game of Go was highly criticized in the higher reaches of the population, because of its addictive nature. through decades, its popularity was degraded: as a source of passion, it was considered as a frivolous activity. It still had a prevailing place, but the way the result of a single game could make someone rich or poor was condemned. The Game of Go kept for a long time this paradoxical position, simultaneously central and enthralling, and reprehensible.

During the Donghan dynasty, some professors tried, with some success, to restore the popularity of the WeiQi. They highlighted the theoretical deepness of the strategies of this game and opposed it to the games of chance (they were popular at this time). They also built links between WeiQi and the teaching of Confucius. This gave the Game of Go a period of success, and several war leaders praised its potential in the field of war strategies. At this time, a lots of proverbs were invented by observing the strongest Go players: Chinese intellectuals invented tons of maxims usable in every day’s life or on a battlefield, on the best way to choose when to start a fight, on the respect of the opponent, of the virtue of sharing and waiting...

For more details, I recommend reading the article covering the relations between the Game of Go and the Chinese philosophy.

there are thousands of stories of strong Go players in the different kingdoms that composed the Chinese empire at that time, the Wei kingdom, the Wu kingdom and the Shu kingdom. Strongest players were often strong because of the quality of their teacher, which was usually their father or a member of their family. Thus, entire families of very strong players were opposed, and this gave the Game of Go a great popularity and an aspect of a mystical art, a noble art reserved for some elite. Recently, tombs of some of those great players were discovered, with gobans next to them.

The WeiQi was ultimately linked to the Chinese history during the Jin dynasty, which followed the Donghan dynasty. In 279 CE, the general Du Yu visited Shima Yan, asking him to urgently attack the Wu kingdom (their kingdoms had been in a war for long). Shima Yan was playing Go when Du Yu arrived, and Du Yu took some time to show him how a precise a quick attack could instantaneously defeat an enemy by playing with him. This convinced Shima Yan, who attacked Wu : Wu kingdom was eliminated.

There are myriads of other storied linking the Game of Go to Chinese rivalries, those stories are strongly linked to two families, Wang and Xie, which where dominant in the universe of WeiQi. Those stories will not be written here. For more details, one may read the article covering the relations between the Game of Go and the Chinese philosophy.

Go in Korea

We do not know precisely when the Game of Go, named Baduk in Korea, arrived in Korea. It is supposed that it was introduced during the Ko Chosun period, which started in 2333 BC and ended in 108 BC. There are two main theories.

The first one asserts that Kija, a noble sage of the Shang dynasty, arrived in Korea around 1000 BC, with 5.000 people. He then taught Korea the Chinese way of life, including, naturally, the Game of Go, as it was a predominant aspect of this way of life. The Baduk was since an important part of the Korean culture.

The second one situate the arrival of the Game of Go in Korea after the fall of Ko Chosun, in 108 BC, when four Chinese regions were designed by the Han dynasty to control the Korea; during that period, there was a impressive increase of exchanges between China and Korea.

In the Samguk Sagi (Story of the three kingdoms), written by Kim Bu-Sik (1075-1151), there is a story about the monk Torim, one of the strongest Baduk players of his time in Korea. It is simultaneously the first written mention of Go in Korea and the best proof of its influence on the Korean society: as Torim was seen as an exceptional player, he was very admired and respected, and he was able to use his popularity to convince  Kaero, king of Paekche (a region of Korea) to use his fortune to build palaces and temples to highlight the culture of Paekche instead of using it to maintain a huge army.

Torim had been sent by the king Changsu from the region Koguryo; Torim said to the king Kaero that he had betrayed Koguryo, but it was in fact a plan whose goal was to use the wonderful status of  the monk Torim, as the best Go player of Korea, to disarm the Paekche. As a consequence, in 475 EC, Hanansong, the capital city of the Paekche, located at the South of what is know known as Seoul, was taken by a 30.000 men army commanded by the king Changsu. This story highlight the extreme importance of the position of the Game of Go in the Korean society at this time, in spite of the lack of written mentions of it.

During the Koryo dynasty, from 918 to 1392 EC, Baduk was very known and popular. Traditions associated to the Game of Go and its success within the aristocracy kept growing until the massive invasion of Korea by the Jan, in 1592. According to the history books, all the kings and princes of Korea of that time were passionate of the Game of Go. The first written game ever known today is from this period and was discovered in TanYang, carved on a rock. It is also written, by Yi Saek, that generals used to play Go on battlefields between fights. Poets of this period used the Game of Go as a major tool to write about the romanticism, and lots of poems from this period survived until today. After 1592, the Game of Go was extended to the lower class of the Korean society, while he was before reserved to the aristocracy. It then became an integral part of the Korean literature.

The Game of Go was played in a very particular way in Korea. For a long time, different kinds of Go were developed from the initial setting of the Goban: players nowadays begin their games on an empty Goban, but in China, for a long time, four stones were initially placed of the four corners, two white stones and two black stones. For Korea, it was way more extreme : 16 stones were initially placed, and black had to play his first move at the centre of the Goban. As a result, there was absolutely no notions of "initial positioning" on the Goban, and the whole game was entirely focused on fighting. Today, the Korean style, even played on an empty Goban, is the most combative and aggressive of the world.

The arrival of the Game of Go in Japan

It is usually admitted that the Game of Go was introduced in Japan by Kibi no Makibi, Japan's ambassador in China, in 740 EC. Historians believe this story to be at least partially true: in spite of some evidence that the Game of Go was already known since the sixth century, the report of Kibi, explaining how popular Go was in China, is probably the source of its success in Japan.

Exclusively played in the court of Japan during decades after the ambassador made it popular, it slowly reached the upper class in the following centuries. As soon as the eleventh century, the Game of Go had a predominant place in the Japanese society. There are a lot of references about Go in The Tale of Genji, which is a major work of the Japanese literature of this century and is often said to be the first psychological novel ever written in the world.

It is a story of the life at Heian's court (today's Kyöto), during the medieval times, throughout feelings, psychology, political issues, love stories and crossed destinies of dozen of people with, at the centre, the emperor's son, prince Genji, "The Radiant". The Game of Go is represented a lot in the splendid pictures that decorate the book.

The Game of Go was then reserved for the upper class, and it was forbidden to play Go outside the court of the emperor. The Game of Go was highly estimated; however, there are very few precise references concerning the way it was played. the most convincing evidence is a tale about a player, Osan, who is described as the strongest player of that time. The author praises its unequalled capacity to remember a whole game. Nowadays, any amateur player who played seriously for a few years is able to do the same; thus, it seems that the level was globally still very weak.

Two centuries later, the Game of Go entered a new phase of evolution. Secretly introduced decades ago by the prince Kiowara Iehira in the cities Dewa and Oshu, Go is then played everywhere in Japan. In particular, the Game of Go is very famous within the Buddhists and Shintos clergies and the samurai. The most ancient written games known are from this period; the oldest is a game played in 1250 by Nirichen, founder of the Buddhist sect that bear his name, with one of his adepts. There was four stones already placed at the beginning of the game, two white stones and two black stones, stones of the same colour occupying the diagonally opposed corners. This initial position, that was abandoned not long after in Japan but that was kept in China until the twentieth century, prevented the development of any theory of the global positioning of the stones. Consequently, games were very aggressive, entirely focused on local fights. This fact might be the reason why the Game of Go was so popular among the warriors: the Game of Go was said to be a part of "the luggage of the warriors". Games were then a succession of approach moves and invasions, and there was no theory about the way to develop a large scale territory, which is the basis of the modern Go. The abandonment of this system is the first reason why, according to historians, Japan dominated all the other countries during a large part of the twentieth century.

In 1578, a player named Nikkai gave the Game of Go a new booming. Several games of Nikkai are still known today, which allows us to estimate his level as the level of a 5d player, which means a very strong amateur. One of his games caused the Game of Go to become part of the legend: while playing with his main rival Kashio Rigen in 1582, the game ended on a triple ko. This extremely rare configuration (it can appear in less than one game out of ten thousands) creates an infinite loop on the Goban, and the game cannot be finished. Japan was then at war; soon after this position occurred, which caused the game to be cancelled, an army demolished the place the game was played in and executed lord Nobunaga, the Go player who was looking at their game. The triple ko has been since considered in the Japanese tradition as a sign of fatality.

Nikkai took later the name of Sansa Hon'inbo. He founded the first of four major Go Japanese schools, the Hon'inbo school. Two of his adepts founded respectively the Inoue and Yasui schools, and his rival, Kashio Rigen, founded the Hayashi school. The emperor then created official titles for Go players: the strongest player of that time would be named "Meijin" (expert, master in Japanese), referring to an exclamation of Nobunaga when looking at a game played by Sansa, and official competitions would be organized by the "Godokoro", and official status sometimes given by the emperor to the Meijin, giving the Meijin the full power to create and manage every event about Go. Sansa Hon'inbo became the first Meijin and Godokoro.

As one can see, the Game of Go was then a strong institution and a source of entertainment everywhere in Japan, but also a source of rivalries and of conflicts for power between the different schools and the players aiming at getting one of those very honorary titles of Meijin and Godokoro. Rivalries and competitions lasted 250 years.

In 1662, the jurisdiction of the GO World was given at the Shrine and Monastery of Japan Commission - indeed, there was not always a Godokoro to take care of the events, as this title was only given to a man if he was the absolute best player of his time. As one can see, the Game of Go was strongly linked to the religion: its deepness and its complexity bestowed some religious mysticism upon the Game of Go. This affected the vocabulary and the symbols of Go - for example, the centre of the Goban was then named "tengen", which means "the sky". Traditionally, the directors of the main Go schools, apart from being the strongest player of their school, were also at the head of Buddhists and Shintoists sects.

While becoming a full part of the Japanese relation to religions, the Game of Go became also during the  twelfth century one of the four "Royal Arts", among with calligraphy, painting and harp. This fact is the main point of my researches. Indeed, I am trying to look at the oriental culture throughout the way Japanese, Chinese and Korean people used to play Go. And I think that the Game of Go is a strong vector of observation for the Japanese culture because it is as relevant to look at the Japanese culture throughout its practice of painting than - as weird as it might seems for us, European people - throughout its practice of Go - both were at the same honorary place in their traditions and customs. But while there are thousands of papers about the painting in Japan and the Japanese culture discovered through it, the Game of Go was neglected, which is typical of an occidental point of view on the oriental history.

The history of the Game of Go cannot be separated from its major characters, and there is a player that has to be mentioned; his name is Dosaku.

The story starts with the first confrontation between the Go Schools: Sansa was dead by that time, and no players was sufficiently stronger than all the other players to deserve the title of Meijin. A player named Sanchai then used his power and his influence to bribe the commission and get the title. Doetsu, another exceptional player, immediately contested and challenged Sanchai. Doing so was asserting that the emperor had made a wrong choice, which did not really pleased the emperor: he decided that if Doetsu were to loose the challenge, he would be exiled in a distant island. Doetsu accepted without hesitations, and after many games, proved easily his superiority. Sanchai abdicated; however, Sanchai was not looking for the title of Meijin, as Japanese people discovered soon after: Doetsu had a young adopted son, and he knew that this son was already way stronger than him, and way stronger than all the other living people of that time.

Dosaku is a legend among the Go players, often said to be the best player of all time. Once the population discovered it, he was given the title of Meijin without any hesitation. He was considerably stronger than any living player: his closest opponents had to get two free moves before he started to play to het a chance to win. He was awarded the title of "Kisei", which means "Go Saint". He completely revolutionized the way Go was played by inventing the concept of "tewari": to evaluate a position on the Goban, the order the moves were played is not important, thus it is a way of reasoning that prove that a given move is bad by replaying the whole sequence in another order that makes clear that the last move is an inferior move, even if it seemed good in the actual game. using this concept, he changed every "joseki" (sequence in a corner considered as an ideal sequence) and transformed the Go theory. He also created the ranks used today : the Meijin became "9th dan", the very rare jun-meijins (nearly Meijin, a title given to the bests among the bests) became "8th dan", and the jozu (the very strong players used to evaluate the weaker players) became "7th dan". All the other ranks, up to 30 kyu, were extrapolated from those ranks.

Dosaku is the founder of the modern Go. There are other very important players that deserve a place in any Go history, such as Dochi or O-Senchi, but I am not trying to reproduce the work of an historian; I am mainly trying to give an overview of the place of Go in Japan and the way it became part of their culture. From the above story, one may remember that the Game of Go was soon considered as an art which was necessary for any educated man, and that its complexity and its deepness stirred up passions. Intense conflicts are born around a game known for the exceptional calm of the people who play it. Logical and rigorous people compete for years to perform in a game linked in every mind to the mysticism of religions and rituals. Those apparent contradictions shows the universal status of Go in Japan at that time: it was the game of the farmer and the emperor, of the warriors and the monks. The Game of Go was and is still an essential facet of the Japanese society.