Tang legend writer Du Guangting's "Biography of the Curly Bearded Guest" has a story about Tang Taizong playing Go in his youth: At the end of the Sui Dynasty, the world was in chaos, farmers revolted one after another, and the Sui Dynasty was on the verge of decline.In this turbulent age, the common people hope that there will be an unrivaled hero who can calm down the world and unify the country, so that they can live and work in peace and contentment.At this time, there was a curly bearded man named Curly Beard, a reckless hero with curly beards. On the way, he met Li Jing and his wife, who later helped the Tang Emperor to become a great cause, and became good friends.Through Li Jing, the bearded man knew that there was another hero named Li Shimin at that time, and he wanted to meet him very much, so he begged Li Jing to introduce him.It turned out that Li Shimin and Liu Wenjing, the county magistrate of Jinyang, often secretly discussed major events of rebelling against the Sui Dynasty. Because they both were good at Go, in order to deceive others, they often went in and out of Liu's residence under the pretext of playing chess.When Qiu and Li visited Liu's mansion, Li Shimin and Liu Wenjing just returned home after playing chess.Li Jing told Liu Wenjing that the bearded guest envied Li Shimin's chess skills and wanted to exchange a game with him.In fact, exchanging chess skills is a name, and testing the opponent is the truth.Liu Wenjing immediately sent a letter to invite Li Shimin, and the bearded man looked up, only to see Li Shimin was in high spirits, with extraordinary bearing, and piercing eyes.Introduced by Liu Wenjing, the two immediately sat down and played chess against each other.According to legend, the bearded man placed four sons in a row on the four or four star positions on the chessboard, and said: "The four old sons occupy all four directions!" This highlights the straightforward nature of this reckless hero.But Li Shimin wisely and calmly cast a piece in the center of the chessboard, which is the so-called "Tianyuan", and said nonchalantly: "One piece of Xiaosheng will determine the universe!" Keton was at a disadvantage.Not long after the battle, he smiled miserably, pushed away the chess game and said: "This game is lost, and there is no way to save it." So he gave up his plan to compete with Li Shimin for the world.This is called "Chess Fights Heroes", which praises the wisdom of Tang Taizong Li Shimin with Go as the background.

Among the emperors of the Tang Dynasty, many were fond of Go.Tang Gaozu Li Yuan and Tang Taizong Li Shimin are both good Go players.When Tang Shunzong Li Song was still the prince, he was very interested in Go, and often played chess with Shuwen, the king of chess at that time.After becoming the emperor, he still loved to play chess, and he used chess to wait for Wang Shuwen, so that this aspiring chess player had the opportunity to display his talents in politics, implemented a series of innovative measures for governing the country, and finally became the prime minister of the Tang Dynasty.

The most famous emperor chess player of the Tang Dynasty was Tang Xuanzong Li Longji, who is known as Tang Minghuang.The love story between him and Concubine Yang has been passed down for thousands of years.Concubine Yang Gui also knew how to play Go, and she was well-behaved and intelligent, so she won Xuanzong's favor.One summer, when Xuanzong played chess with the prince, He Huaizhi was ordered to play the pipa for fun, while Concubine Yang was on the sidelines, holding a docile Kang Guoxie in his hand.The chess game was fiercely fought at the beginning, and after the middle game, the game was played, and suddenly, Xuanzong made a wrong move, and the chess situation turned into a disadvantage, and he was always passive from then on.Concubine Yang Gui was in a hurry, hoping that Xuanzong would come out of the way and save the defeat, but because the general situation was over, Xuanzong had no way to return to heaven.Seeing that Xuanzong was about to lose the chess game, Concubine Yang Guifei had a quick wit and put Kang Guoyong next to the chess table in her hand, and let it climb up the chessboard. As a result, the chess game was disrupted, and a game of chess was over, and the emperor was relieved.Xuanzong was relieved and very happy.

Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty had a deep knowledge of chess and used Go as an examination question to test the intelligence of young people. According to the "Book of Tang Li Mi Biography", in the 16th year of Kaiyuan (728 A.D.), on the fifth day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar, Xuanzong's birthday, a colorful building was set up in the Forbidden City in Chang'an City, and scholars and experts of all kinds were called to compete on stage.Tang Xuanzong and Yan Gong Zhang said that they went up to the tower to try to see the talents of the world.The debaters on the stage included scholars from all corners of the country, and the atmosphere was intense.What is particularly striking is that Yuan Chu [chu animal], who is only nine years old, has a magnificent instrument, and his speech and debate are sharp, and all the debaters are subdued.Xuanzong was overjoyed, and ordered the eunuch Gao Lishi to invite Yuan Chu upstairs to test his talents, and asked him, "Are there any other strange children like you?" Yuan Chu replied, "What kind of strange boy am I? My younger brother, Li Mi, is only seven years old, younger than me, but more talented than me!" Xuanzong asked Li Mi's residence, and asked Gao Lishi to summon Li Mi.At this time, Xuanzong and Zhang Shuo were watching the national players playing Go, and Yuan Chu was waiting by the side.Xuanzong asked Zhang Shuo to come up with a question to try Li Mi's intelligence.Zhang Shuo took Go as the theme, and even asked to write a poem about "movement and stillness in the square and circle".The childish little Li Bi said calmly: "Please make some requests!" After Zhang Shuo thought about it, he said: "The square is like a chess board, the round is like a chess piece, the movement is like a chess, and the static is like a chess." Zhang said that he was afraid that Li Mi was too young to understand his intentions, so he added a sentence: "Poetry can be fabricated, but the word "chess piece" cannot be used in poetry." Li Mi felt that Yan Gong looked down on him, so he said: "It's so easy to write poetry at will!" Xuanzong said with a smile on his side: "This child is really full of courage, and his mouth is bigger than his body!" If you use your wits, you can move like you are talented, and you can be calm if you are proud." These four sentences are neat and tidy, and there is no mention of chess pieces, but they are all about Go, with accurate words and profound meanings.Zhang Shuo quickly congratulated Xuanzong and said, "Sage Jiarui too!" Tang Xuanzong was so happy that he got such a child prodigy on his birthday, he quickly hugged Li Mi in his arms and stroked him gently. He asked Gao Lishi to fetch delicious pastries and candies, put them in his mouth with his own hands, and gave him a lot of clothes and colorful satins. He happily said to his parents: "It's not good to give an official title when you are young. I'm afraid It will be harmful to you and you will become talented in the future. I hope you will cultivate it well and you will become a great weapon in the future." Later, Li Mizhen became a great talent. In the Tang Dynasty, he showed extraordinary ingenuity.

Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, was originally a farmer and knew nothing about Go.After becoming the emperor, he learned to recite poems and play chess in order to be arty.So the charm of Go quickly fascinated the emperor, and he often called his famous general Xu Da to play against him.Xu Da is much better than Ming Taizu in chess. In order not to embarrass the emperor, he often let him win a little.Once, when Zhu Yuanzhang became addicted to chess, he set up a chess game on the bank of Mochou Lake outside the west gate of Nanjing and called Xu Da to play.Before playing chess, Zhu Yuanzhang said to Xu Da: "Xu Qing! Isn't this Mochou Lake beautiful?" Xu Da replied: "This Mochou Lake is very beautiful!" Zhu Yuanzhang said: "Okay, let's play this game of chess. Gambling, whoever wins this game of chess will own the lake!" So, the monarch and his ministers, you have one piece, and I have one piece, compete.As a result, the emperor lost naturally, and Zhu Yuanzhang showed sullen expression.Xu Da knelt down in a hurry and said: "Long live, I deserve ten thousand deaths for my crimes. Please watch the chess game again."Emperor Taizu of the Ming Dynasty was very happy for a while, so he gave this chess building to Xu Da, named it "Shengqi Building", and gave a pair of couplets: "Dream of Six Dynasties in Yanyu Rivers and Mountains, heroes and sons and daughters play a game of chess."

In this game of chess, Xu Da not only won a garden, but also proved that his chess skills are indeed much better than Taizu's. Otherwise, Zhu Yuanzhang would not have been playing chess, following the traps he set, and the chess game was finally set as "Long Live". Two words.