Is Weiqi the quintessence of China?

Weiqi is an ancient intellectual game, which originated in China. Weiqi is a great invention of the Chinese nation. Weiqi was invented by Emperor Yao, one of the "Five Emperors" in China, with a history of more than 4,000 years. Go was originally called "Yi" or "Chess". Later, according to the characteristics that black and white chess always attack each other when playing chess, some people called "playing chess" Weiqi. In this way, "go" as a special term is fixed. Weiqi is one of China's "four ancient arts" (piano, chess, calligraphy and painting). "Chess" in "Chyi Chin's Painting and Calligraphy" refers to Go. In the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the chessboard was shaped as the current 19 chessboard, and there was a nine-product system to evaluate the level of players. Weiqi has gradually become a compulsory course for China ancient intellectuals to cultivate their self-cultivation, and it is one of the four major arts of "Chyi Chin Painting and Calligraphy". In the Tang Dynasty, there was an official position waiting to be summoned. China's Go was introduced to Japan in the 7th century (Tang Dynasty in China) and soon became popular in Japan. Weiqi is figuratively compared to the "black and white world". Weiqi is a favorite entertainment and competitive activity in ancient China, and it is also the oldest board game in human history. Because it integrates science, art and competition, and has the characteristics of developing intelligence, cultivating will quality and flexible strategic and tactical ideas, it has been enduring for thousands of years and gradually developed into an international cultural competitive activity. The rules of Go are very simple, but it has a broad space to play, which makes Go more diverse and complicated than China chess. This is the charm of Go. There is no time limit for the next game of Go, which is five minutes fast and several days slow. Most of the time, the next game takes an hour or two. Playing Go is very helpful to the intellectual development of human brain, which can enhance people's computing ability, memory, creativity, thinking ability and judgment ability, and also improve people's ability to control attention. Therefore, Go is an advanced intellectual game. Go invented by China people can best reflect the ancient philosophy of China. Surprisingly, China's Go is also very consistent with the principles of modern science (astronomy, cosmology) and the laws of nature. The rules of Go are very simple. In all chess, Go is the simplest rule. However, the game of Go is very complicated, ever-changing and even endless. China's Go contains the wisdom of ancient China ancestors, while China's Go is infinitely mysterious. Weiqi is a great invention.

Xiangqi

It has a long history in China, and it belongs to a two-person antagonistic game. Because of its simple tools and strong interest, it has become a very popular chess activity. It is one of the 78 sports events officially launched by China. In order to promote the popularization and promotion of this project in the world, in ancient China, chess was listed as an art of self-cultivation by literati, but now it is regarded as a beneficial activity to refresh the mind and improve intelligence. In chess, people can learn some philosophies from the changes of complex relationships such as attack and defense, reality, whole and part. Second, chess can broaden people's horizons in the game, make people look farther and take care of the overall situation. Chess is a chess game in which two people take turns to win by "dying" or "trapping" their opponents, and it has hundreds of millions of fans. It can not only enrich cultural life and cultivate sentiment, but also help to develop intelligence, enlighten thinking, exercise dialectical analysis ability and cultivate tenacious will.

In the game, the player holding the red chess goes first, and the two sides take turns to go one by one until the outcome is tied and the game is over. It is the turn of the chess player to move the pieces from one intersection to another, or to eat the pieces of the opponent and occupy the intersection, which is considered as a move. Both sides are walking, which is called a round.

Chess is the traditional culture of the Chinese nation, which is not only deeply loved by the masses at home, but also widely circulated abroad.

1. Ivory chess pieces in the pre-Qin Six-hexagram drama. Six black and six white. "Chu Ci evokes the soul": "There are six numbers in chess." Wang Yi's note: "After the banquet, set up six chopsticks, cover them with chopsticks, and use ivory as chess. It's beautiful and kind." Hong Xingzu quoted Humboldt's Jing Bo in his supplementary note: "Twelve pieces, six white pieces and six black pieces."

2. One of the ancient board games, also called Xiang. According to legend, it has existed since the Warring States period. Liu Han said to "Talking about Wanshan": "Yan plays chess and dances with Zheng women." Later, Emperor Wu of the Northern Zhou Dynasty made the Elephant Classic and collected hundreds of lectures. It is said that "Xiang Jing" has the image of the sun, the moon and the stars to contain soldiers. Sui Shu Jing Ji Zhi The militarist recorded a volume of Xiang Jing, which was written by Emperor Wu of Zhou, but this book has not been circulated. The Ancient Chess Map written by Sima Guang in Song Dynasty is different from today's chess.

The chess that is popular today is said to be made by cattle and monks and nuns in Tang Dynasty. Carve logs or teeth and bones into 32 pieces, half red and half black. Two people play chess, the red side is responsible for the official, opponent, gun, cannon and five soldiers; The black side will take two generals, two elephants, two chariots, two horses, two cannons and five soldiers. When playing chess, both sides take turns to play popular chess, and the "dying" or "sleepy" opponent will win. The arrangement of chess pieces was influenced by the battle forms of ancient two armies. By the Zhou dynasty, the basic establishment of the army was composed of five infantry, and the combat weapons were also bows, spears, spears and halberds. This is why there are five pieces on each side of the chess team.

According to ancient cultural relics and documents, Chatulanka developed into Chastelain Zi in Khosrau I Anushirvan, Persia, and was introduced to China as an elephant play through the Silk Road in the Northern Zhou Dynasty. It became Baoying chess in the Tang Dynasty and was finally transformed into China chess by China people in the Song Dynasty. Some Soviet scholars published articles, trying to refute the Indian origin theory. 1972 Yugoslav historian bijiv's monograph "chess-a symbol of the universe" draws the conclusion that chess first appeared in China in 569 AD, and then gradually spread. But it was later proved that Bijifu was wrong, because the earliest board game Chatulanka was recorded and unearthed in Indian literature three centuries ago. Yan Shu's Lei Yao records that chess was introduced to China in the early years of Wei and Huang Dynasties in the Three Kingdoms. The shape of chess is constantly changing. The origin of India is still the main theory in the world. Chess has a long history in China.

Weiqi, Chess and China Culture

As the saying goes, chess is a small world and the world is a big chess game. but

In the chess forest in China,

Go and chess are the most influential. As a typical cultural phenomenon in China, they regard chessboards and chess pieces as the epitome of traditional society in China. Their similarity is that the chessboard is criss-crossed and distributed in a grid; Chess pieces are made up of two sides of different colors to fight each other. Detailed investigation is very different.

Let's talk about Go first. Except for the black and white pieces formed by colors, all the pieces have no difference in function, no division of labor in size, the same performance and equal status. The sign of their victory or defeat is occupied land, and there is no need to have at least two "gas eyes".

"gas eye" refers to an empty eye, which means the space for activities, and the other party is not allowed to invade. It symbolizes the ancient city of China and embodies an idea: to survive and develop, there must be a site, which is called the base area in today's popular language; If there is a base area, there must be room for manoeuvre. This is exactly the same as the thinking mode of traditional Chinese agricultural society: if you want to keep the site, you must connect it; If you want to keep your territory, you must have the city as a support.

The isolated chess piece "Man" is weak, with limited function and easy to be destroyed. Although there are many "people" in a chess game, if there is no gas eye, you will never live. Individual pieces are narcissistic and insignificant, but together, they are invincible and unstoppable. From the perspective of social development, the previous product, the group strength is greater than the individual, and the individuals unite to produce strength. If you occupy space, you will win, which reflects the early pursuit of goals and more equal values of human beings.

Chess is not. It divides the chess pieces into seven types: general (handsome), scholar (official), elephant (photograph), horse, car, cannon and soldier (pawn). Different functions, different nobility. Its victory or defeat depends only on the general's life and death. As long as the generals are still there, even if they are wiped out, they will not fall; If something happens to a general, even if he doesn't lose his son, he will be considered a failure. Other children also have different positions and values because of their different functions. Cars can be on the rampage and invincible; Kyle jumped and ran; The guns can be divided into two parts, and the firepower is fierce; Scholars and elephants keep pace with each other, and only advance and never retreat. From this, it is concluded that the status of philosophers is very different and cannot be equated.

As far as skill and lethality are concerned, the general serves the most incompetent people. Not only does it move slowly and have poor lethality, but it can't cross the lonely city half a step, and it is necessary to defend all the pieces and even be killed and eaten. Other sons are also graded, ranking high and low; The car is the most precious thing in chess, and you must never give it up lightly. As long as it is not the supreme leader, it must not be lost. Horses and cannons are roughly equal. At first, cannon seemed to be slightly better than Ma. In the end, the horse is better than the cannon. The most miserable person is the team, with a large number of people, so it is abandoned; Limited skills, thus ineffective; Only forward, not backward, so the prospect is gloomy and the ending is tragic. Even if they were not killed or deliberately fed, or sacrificed to protect other chess pieces (such as "losing soldiers and protecting cars"). ), the arch will eventually become an "old pawn", which is almost useless. This is the most vivid and concentrated embodiment of hierarchical society, and it is the typical and miniature of China feudal society.

In this hierarchical and competitive game, the fate of each chess piece is different because of the different functions and roles stipulated by people. How beautiful the car is, sweeping thousands of cars, like nobody's business; Or being killed by the other side is tantamount to cutting meat and cramping, which is extremely painful. In order to protect its life, it sacrificed many other pieces. It's a waste of time to fight on the battlefield, and it's a pity to lose it. The most tragic thing is the ranks, who charge ahead, are shot and trampled by horses. They often give up halfway and lament before they even start; Even if the lucky stars are shining, they are extremely lucky and constantly strive for self-improvement. In the end, they became useless, and crabs walked on the bottom line, which was really sad. This is a true portrayal of the lower classes in traditional society, and also a vivid embodiment of China's traditional cultural system.

In contrast, although there are some rankings in chess, their skills are greater than those of their domestic counterparts. Once they reach the bottom line, they become "backward" and have infinite magic power, giving comfort and hope to the lower classes. Reminiscent of the tragic fate of China prisoners of war and the colorful flowers of western prisoners of war, the differences between the two cultures are self-evident.

As far as the production time is concerned, Go is definitely earlier than chess. "Natural History" says: "Yao plays Weiqi and is good at it." Although it is not credible, it was born before the formation of a strict hierarchy, and there should be no objection. Its idea and design of equality and equal opportunity is the concrete embodiment of "people-oriented thought" in China's pre-Qin culture. Chess players are born with the rigid idea that they can't change their identity differences and are willing to spend their whole lives to protect the commander-in-chief. This is the best interpretation of the autocratic system after Qin Dynasty, and with the support of "Chu River and Han Dynasty", their birth date is generally determined.

As far as chess players are concerned, the patent application for Go is subjective and independent. Save the commander in chief set in advance, don't have to take pains, just need to judge on the basis of the overall situation. And the chess player, it's really hard. They have to suffer losses, their horses and even their cars, just for the safety of the incompetent commander-in-chief. Putting a person's survival above the safety of the group, or even wanting to be an outsider, is a microcosm of China's traditional social structure and rules, and a typical reflection of China's autocratic thought.

Judging from the rules of the game, the two are just the opposite. Go uses addition. At first, it was empty and lonely. With the movement of both sides, there are more and more chess pieces, and in the end it is often crowded and there is almost no place to stay. Subtraction is used in chess. At first, the situation was neat, Enemy at the Gates. With the fighting between the two sides, there are fewer and fewer pieces. By the end of the game, philosophers have withered and withered, and they are in a state of confusion. Finally, even one man's army was left behind and trapped in the old city. It's really two feelings, two artistic conceptions.

Chess is intuitive and fixed, and the situation is clear at a glance, which is easy for beginners to understand. There are many players, so there are many smelly hands. Weiqi is difficult to guess, mysterious and unpredictable, with a calm surface like water, and suddenly murderous. Therefore, people with low IQ should not do it, otherwise they will often lose face and have no fun.

In a word, Go and Chess reflect two different ways of thinking and values formed by China culture at different levels and stages. The existence of Weiqi shows that there is at least the spirit of dissent and the concept of equality in China's cultural system. Chess, on the other hand, shows the group concept and sacrifice spirit of ancestors to defend their country at all costs. These two spirits and ideas complement each other and jointly support the spiritual building of the Chinese nation. Go and chess are the crystallization of these two spirits and thoughts.