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Lu Fan Volunteered his Service Through Weiqi
Lu Fan (?-228 A.D.) was a native of Runan Shiyang (East of Taihe in Anhui). He was a handsome man who proposed to a native girl Ms. Liu. Liu's mother opposed the marriage because Lu was poor. Her father on the other hand, impressed by Lu's future prospect, agreed to the marriage. Lu migrated to Shouchun because of the war and met Sun Ce. Liu's father used his wealth to help Lu build up his power, who in turn supported Sun. Through tough times, Sun and Lu had become the best of friends. Lu accompanied Sun in conquering Lu Jiang, then crossed the river and attacked Jiang Dong. They took over Wan Ling (Xuancheng of Anhui), and Lu became the governor of Wan Ling. One day, during his visit, Sun asked Lu for a game of Weiqi. Sun played first, made a wrong move and had a bad start. Lu Fan pointed at the board and said, 'Please forgive me for being straightforward. You have committed a cardinal sin in this game. It's like fighting a battle without a Commander in Chief.' Sun replied, 'It's easy to assemble an army, but it's difficult to find a good general.' Immediately following that, Lu made an exquisite move and mumbled to himself, 'It takes a gifted general, to come up with such an exquisite move.' He thus volunteered his service as the Commander-in-Chief for Su Ce. Sun had greatly expanded his territory under the command of Lu and became one of the three powers of the Three Kingdoms . The game between Sun Ce and Lu Fan was the oldest game record in history. Cao Cao and Weiqi (155 - 220) was a native of Pei Guoqiao (Hao County of Anhui). Cao was the prime minister of Han Xian Di who proclaimed himself the king of Wei. His son Cao Pei succeeded him as the Emperor, known as Wei Wu Di. In the thirteen year of Jiangan during Dong Han Dynasty , Cao Cao united the northern army and was ready to conquer the south. Cao trained his navy in Wuci and began his southward expedition in July. He was opposed by Liu Bei and Sun Quan. Who joined forces against him. In November, the Battle of Chibi broke out. Cao was badly defeated and had to escape desperately. After the Battle of Chibi, Cao was deeply depressed. He returned to Hebei, and refused to see anyone. One day, his wife rushed into the room saying, 'An old friend has come to visit you.' When Cao refused to meet this friend, his wife said, 'You must see him for he brought you medicine for your sickness'. She then took out a crystal box with a Weiqi set inside. Seeing this box, Cao asked, 'Is Shan Zi Dao here?' When his wife nodded, Cao agreed see him. Shan Zi Dao was a great Weiqi player during the Donghan Dynasty, who was a frequent Weiqi player at Cao's house. Because Cao was too busy conquering the world, he had not played Weiqi for years. Shan Zi Dao told Cao he came to say goodbye because he had decided to become a monk. When Cao ask Shan why he wanted to be a monk, Shan replied, 'I lost a game of Weiqi and am greatly depressed.' Cao comforted him saying, 'Winning or losing is very common in Weiqi. Why do you take it so seriously?' Shan Zi Dao thus replied, 'Playing Weiqi is very similar to fighting a battle. Losing a battle is no reason for not seeing your visitor either.' Cao realized the analogy instantly, and avoided the subject. Afterward, Cao asked Shan for a game of Weiqi. They played three games and Shan won two of them. Shan said to Cao, 'I won the first two games by luck, you won the last game by wit. Do you see another analogy here between these games and the Battle of Chibi?' Cao exclaimed, 'Alas, you opened my eyes!' After this, Cao snapped out of his depression and proceeded with his ambition with great success. Pressing on the Divine Head Guo Shiyan of the Tang Dynasty was famous for his play which rescued two of his groups trapped by ladders. This game has been passed on for hundreds of years and was first mentioned in Du Yang Za Pian written by Su E of Tang Dynasty. Guo, the best Weiqi player in China, was the Weiqi Administrator in Emperor Tang Xuan Zong's palace. During the eighth year of Xuan Zong's reign, a Japanese prince traveled to Changan and paid tribute to China, bringing precious gifts and musical instruments. The Japanese prince was also an exceptional Weiqi player. Emperor Xuan Zong asked Guo to entertain the Japanese prince by playing a game of Weiqi with him. This might very well be the first international Weiqi game. As one can imagine, the pressure was on Guo. In representing China against the prince of Japan, Guo could very well lose his life if he lost. Guo played the game cautiously, like walking on thin ice. He was sweating furiously and made every play after careful considerations. When the prince played move number 42, Guo was in a terrible position, with two of his groups trapped by ladders. If he makes a wrong play, he could lose the game. Staring at the board, Guo discovered an exquisite play which could break two ladders. This was the play known as Pressing on the Divine Head. The Japanese prince was stunned and soon resigned. The prince asked the translator how did Guo rank among Chinese Weiqi players. The translator boasted that Guo was only ranked number three. The Japanese prince thus requested that he would like to meet the best player in China. The translator replied, "One must beat the third best to meet the second best, and beat the second best before meeting the best." The prince sighed, "The best in a small kingdom (Japan) is no match for the third best in a big kingdom (China). I truly believe now " According to the research of Japanese scholar Watanabe Yoshimichi, this international match did take place. Watanabe wrote in Kodai igo no Sekai, which was published in the Kido Magazine, "The thirteenth ambassador mission to Tang (Tang Dynasty of China) was accompanied by the prince (of Japan) in 835 A.D., who stayed in China for a total of 45 years. Therefore, the prince was indeed in China during Xuan Zong's reign." However, Watanabe did not mention the Pressing the Divine Head play. The sequence in this game record was a popular opening in ancient Chinese games, with one side approaching the corner at 3-6, and the opponent replying at 5-6. This was also seen in the game record of Ranka (see Go Stories in Go Winds 4:1), and was very popular during the Ming Dynasty. Therefore some believe that this game was played in the Ming Dynasty instead. Others believe that this game was created by Wang Jixin between 713 and 756 A.D., who accredited this game record to Guo Shiyan in the book Yi Zheng Regardless of whose creation it is, the sequence is quite exquisite Fei Wei Deployed His Army Using Weiqi Fei Wei (?-253 A.D.) was a native of Jiang Xia (West of Lou Shan in Henan), and a general of Shu during the Three Kingdoms . When Zhuge Liang (Zhuge Kong Ming) returned from his expedition to the south, Fei Wei was in the same chariot with him. Everyone was surprised and wanted to know why Fei deserved such honor. Zhuge allowed Fei to travel with him, because he respected Fei'd talent and ability. Before Zhuge died in 233 A.D., he proposed that Fei should replace him as the prime minister. Within two years, Fei indeed became the prime minister of Shu. In 243 A.D., he resigned his position and became a general. Interestingly, what Zhuge liked about Fei, was his ability as a general. In 244 A.D., general Cao Shuang of the Wei kingdom led a hundred thousand army to attack the north-east Shu kingdom from Lejiu. Emperor Liu Chan (son of Liu Bei ) heard the news and was dead worried. Fei Wei asked Emperor Liu Chan to relax, because he had a good defensive plan. The next day, Liu Chan sent Lai Ming to learn about his plan. When Fei saw Lai, he said, 'Officer Lai. You come at the right time. Let's play a game of Weiqi.' Lai Ming thought he was kidding, but Fei asked his guard to set up the game for them. When they were playing, messangers came one after another to report on the war. Lai was ready to adjourn the game when Fei said, 'The development of the war is like this game. Shenling, Wuling and Fengshuiling are on the outside of Shaanxi. If we can occupy these three mountains, we can surround our invaders.' When Lai Ming looked at the Weiqi board, he discovered that his black stones have been surrounded by White and realized that Fei Wei was using the Weiqi game to direct his army. After the game, Fei said goodbye to Lai, put on his armor and proceeded to join the attack. Cao Shuang's army was tired due to the long journey and shortage of supply. They were surrounded by the Shu army and were badly defeated. |