Chapter 14 Section 14 Go and Classics
Since ancient times, among writers, novelists and playwrights, there have been quite a few people who are fond of chess, especially Go.In the works they wrote and created, there are naturally many pages reflecting the love of Go by people from all walks of life in the society at that time, or taking Go as the theme of their creations.In classical masterpieces such as , , "Jin Ping Mei Ci Hua" and so on, there are many chapters describing Go activities.
In a book written by Luo Guanzhong, a famous writer in Ming Dynasty, there are many interesting stories about literati playing chess.For example, the family of Cao Cao's father and son loves Go, and the description that Cao Cao's Go can compete with the four major national players at that time.The story of the famous doctor Hua Tuo scraping Guan Yu's bones to cure poison and treating the arrow wound in his arm is vividly and vividly described.At that time, Guan Yu played chess with Ma Liang, talking and laughing happily. Although when Hua Tuo scraped his bones, Guan Yu "bleeded from his arm and filled the plate", and "everything was heard", making "everyone who saw it on the tent or under the tent all covered their faces." But Guan Yu "talked, laughed and played chess" and "had no sign of pain."Go actually played the role of anesthetic, reducing the pain of surgery.This reflects Luo Guanzhong's love of Go from one aspect, otherwise, it would be difficult to have such a vivid description.
In classical novels, the author Wu Chengen has more pages describing Go.After describing the chess game between Emperor Taizong Li Shimin and Wei Zheng, he wrote a poem:
In Wu Chengen's works, not only emperors and generals love to play Go, gods love to play Go, even woodcutters like Li Dingou also love to play Go.The book says that he "watches the misty white clouds flying leisurely, sits alone in a thatched cottage to cover the bamboo doors. He reads from the book when he has nothing to do, and sometimes plays chess with guests."
The author Wu Chengen devoted so much space to writing articles on chess, which fully reflects his interest in Go.According to historical records, Wu Chengen has been fond of Go almost all his life from his youth until his later years.He also wrote poems for Go masters Bao Jingyuan and Li Chong respectively.In his long poem to Bao Jingyuan, he said: "Who is good at chess in China today, Mr. Bao of Wenzhou ranks first. Twenty-five years ago, I saw that there is no match for him." The poem expresses Wu Chengen's admiration for Bao Jingyuan's chess skills.
In the classics written by Cao Xueqin, there are also many descriptions of Go as entertainment.In the novel, it is said that all the sons and daughters in Jia's mansion love to play Go, and even Jia Zheng, who looks like a Taoist gentleman, often drinks and plays chess with chess players.Among the many women in Jia's mansion, Miaoyu and Xichun, nuns who see through the world of mortals, spend their youth playing Go in the Buddhist monastery.In the eighty-seventh chapter of the book, it specifically describes the wonderful scene of two women fighting Go.In the end, it was Miao Yuqi who made the best move, using the "reversed boots posture" to hit every corner of Xichun.
The grandfather of the author Cao Xueqin, Cao Yin, was a poet and was good at Go.Cao Xueqin has a long history of family education and is also fond of chess.Later, when his family fortune was stolen, he was impoverished and often used chess and wine to relieve his worries.
Another classic of the Qing Dynasty, the 73rd chapter of Li Ruzhen's "Looking at Go Sisters Talking about Playing Books".It talks about many terms that describe the ancient Chinese Go formula, such as "Shuangfeiyan", "Inverted Lotus", "Zhenshentou", "Big Pressure Beam", "Small Iron Net" and so on.This shows that the author Li Ruzhen is proficient in chess theory.The author utters a lot of incisive words through the mouth of the characters in the novel.Xiangyun said:
"According to me: My sister wants to play chess, but she has to play slower. It is said in the manual: "More counts to win, less counts to win. If you go carefully, you will naturally have a good move; if you blindly try to be fast, you will not only fail." High, I’m afraid the lower the lower. As the saying goes: ‘Fast chess is slow, but vertical height is not good.’ The word ‘fast’ in Go is the biggest problem.”
The author here advocates that when playing Go games, you should think carefully, and you can't blindly seek speed without thinking.Therefore, he secretly reminded to play more chess records.In the words of the character Ziqiong in the novel: "Often play music, and even if you pay attention to it, it makes a little bit of sense. You can teach him to be fast, but he can't do it. Therefore, playing music is indispensable." But drawing music absorbs the experience of predecessors, Don't apply it mechanically, but adapt to the situation and use it flexibly.So the author borrows a dialogue between the characters Ziling and Zizhi in the novel to illustrate his point of view.
"Zi Ling said: My sister often played music back then, but she suffered a big loss later, so she doesn't play anymore now.
Zizhi said: "How can you lose money if you play the score?"
Zi Ling said: "It's funny to say, I was in my hometown, and I played chess with my relatives and sisters one day. Before I could count the number of games, I came across a trick on the scoreboard. At that time, my sister remembered everything because of this change. Unknowingly secretly rejoicing, thinking that he will surely win.When I went down, I didn't realize that it was a critical moment, but he thought for a while, and suddenly changed the score, and the moves he made were all new in the score; I felt very at a loss, and didn't know how to respond.Feeling flustered for a while, he responded casually, and in a blink of an eye, he ate up half the plate including the front and back. "
Li Ruzhen is not only a novelist, but also a Go theorist.He is versatile, and he also wrote "Li's Yin Jian" and Go monograph "Shou Zi Pu".According to Li Ruzhen's Go level, according to his own words, the first-class famous players at that time could only let him have two pieces, which shows that he has a very high level of Go skills.