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Article: The art of black and white: wei-ch'i in Chinese poetry.
- Article from:
- The Journal of the American Oriental Society
- Article date:
- October 1, 1997
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1997 American Oriental Society. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Wei-ch'i is the oldest and one of the most popular board games in China and other East Asian countries. Although the time of its origin cannot be set with certainty,(1) reliable anecdotes about the game date back to 548 n.c.(2) The game spread from China to Korea and Japan before the Tang dynasty (A.D. 618-907),(3) and in fact it is as go, the Japanese pronunciation of the character ch'i, that the game is commonly known in the West. Wei-ch'i is played with black and white pieces, or stones,(4) on a square wooden board crossed by 19 vertical lines and 19 horizontal lines which form 361 intersections, or "points." Players try to conquer territory by enclosing vacant points ...