Източник
"Let's Go" By Hu Yan
Shanghai Star. 2005-05-12
LOCATED in downtown's Tianjin Lu, several minutes away from buzzing Nanjing Lu, Ing Chang-Ki Go School looks no different from other local public schools.
But the posters on the building's walls - of all the top Go players in China and abroad - are a clue that this is no ordinary place. In fact, this school has the city's only Go museum.
Around 1,300 primary and middle school students spend hours every week in the Go rooms. Many of them regard young Go champion Chang Hao as their idol.
Co-founded in 1999 by Ing Foundation (named after Ing Chang-Ki, a philanthropist in Taiwan) and the Huangpu Education Bureau, the school is blessed with abundant resources, giving it many advantages over other schools when it comes to the game.
This can be seen in the row of golden trophies and various other prizes exhibited in the president's office. In the city's Go competition for primary and middle schools held early this year, players from the school won four of the six group champion places and all five of those for individual champions.
"We have found a couple of elite students with great potential in Go, but as a general public school, we don't mean to train every student to become a professional Go player or even amateur player in the future," said Jin Weiliang, president of the school.
"It's more important to cultivate students' personalities and morality through the rich traditional culture of Go."
Ancient game
Go is played on a board divided into a grid constructed by 19 horizontal and 19 vertical lines. Black and white pieces called "stones" are placed one at a time on the grid's intersections. The object is to acquire and defend territory by surrounding it with stones.
The game originated in China and a painting found on extremely ancient pottery relics is said to represent a Go board. As time passed, the game evolved, with boards consisting of 10x10 and later 13x13 grids at different periods while the number of stones increased.
Go was regarded as one of the four necessary skills of ancient Chinese intellectuals - qin, Go, calligraphy and painting. The game was well established in China's feudal society - paintings from that period show officials, hermits, ladies and ordinary people playing the game.
One legend said that a woodcutter happened to watch two old men playing Go in the mountains. After the game finished, he was surprised to find the wooden handle of his axe had rotted. When he returned to his village, he realized 500 years had passed.
The strategy for playing Go is included in military strategy books from ancient China.
As early as the Han Dynasty (206 BC- AD 220) the game had spread far beyond China, as the official Zhang Qian discovered when he travelled to the countries of central Asia. During the Tang dynasty (618-907), the game was introduced to Japan and gained much popularity there.
Go became popular in the West from the 1900s. In the movie "A Beautiful Mind", a scene shows mathematician John Nash sitting in a Princeton courtyard playing Go.
In the course of a chess game, a player has an average 25 to 35 moves available for each turn - sparking the great interest of researchers into artificial intelligence who believe chess playing could reveal secrets of human thinking. Go is far more complex: the more than 200 possible moves available at each turn have defeated all attempts to devise a computerized Go master.
The last two centuries have seen ups and downs in Chinese Go, echoing the country's decline and development since the beginning of its "Century of Humiliation".
After the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, the government has strongly promoted the game, supported by the tremendous efforts of former Vice-Premier Chen Yi. Nationwide competitions have taken place and teams of national- and provincial-level players have been established.
Just as ping-pong thawed the icy relations between China and the United States, so Go warmed the relations between China and Japan. Modern communication between the two countries began with Go competitions after Vice-Premier Chen invited top Japanese players to China.
"Since the mid-1980s, Go has flourished in China, with a few young players (Nie Weiping, Ma Xiaochun and Chang Hao) winning major international tournaments and the general level of Go skills improving rapidly," said Wang Jingyu, a senior sports reporter who specializes in Go at the Xinhua News Agency.
The reform of the nation's sports system in the early 1990s led Go training from being wholly supported by the government onto a more market-oriented path, gaining sponsors from a variety of sources.
Compared with other games, Go competitions have dedicated audiences and more recently lavish media exposure, leading to dynamic growth. Most Go competitions are named after sponsoring businesses, such as the "China Merchants Bank Cup". In China, the most treasured prize is the annual Changqi Cup Championship, worth 400,000 yuan (US$48,426).
Presently, only top players selected to the national team and national youth team, few in number, are supported by the government. The majority of players make their living through national championships or State league competitions as well as teaching courses to Go learners and players at lower levels.
"The number of winners in such competitions is limited, and professional players have to practise hard to maintain their level and win prizes. So, giving courses to learners is a good way of making a living for the majority of individual players," said Wang.
For this reason, Go clubs (Weiqi Daochang) run by former top players are popular in major Chinese cities, such as Beijing, Shanghai, Wuhan, Chongqing, Chengdu and Guizhou. The club run by Go master Nie Weiping is the most famous.
These clubs provide training and accommodation for Go players at an average cost of about 3,000 yuan to 4,000 yuan (US$360 to 480) each month.
"To improve one's skill, a player needs to continually learn from players at a higher level - this requires considerable financial support. One way is to teach players at lower levels," said Zhu Lili, a professional Go player of "3-dan" status in Shanghai.
Grassroots zeal
What drives the Go industry is public enthusiasm as well as increasing awareness among parents of the educational function of this traditional game.
Over the last five years, Go schools have mushroomed in every district and many schools have opened courses in the game. Parents send children to learn Go as early as kindergarten age.
"We have had five-month Go training courses for children aged 5 years and up for many years. Both parents and children have great interest in the game," said an employee surnamed Ying from the Shanghai Changning District Children's Palace.
Each semester, the palace recruits some 30 students and offers them one training course each week. "We are never worried about recruitment," said Ying.
Since 1999, the city has held dan upgrading and ji upgrading competitions each month. Statistics show that in 1999, fewer than 600 players participated in the monthly test. By 2005, the two tests were being sat by some 2,000 players each month.
"Not everyone has the gift required to be trained as an international Go champion like Chang Hao. My motivation is to inspire my son's interest - and to make my naughty boy calm down for a few hours," said a local father surnamed Zhang.
Many parents and educators share the opinion that Go training is a good way to cultivate a child's personality because the way one plays the game indicates one's personality. Good Go players maintain good manners - being polite, modest, calm, composed, respectful of others and wise.
"When the player is deciding what variations to consider for the next move, his subconscious mind is pruning. By practising Go, one learns how to give up short-term small interests for long-term big ones," said Jin, the president of the Ing Chang-Ki Go School.
A study following 50 young Go players at the Ing Chang-Ki Go School shows that Go training improves players' IQ and their logical thinking. "After four to five years, eight of the best players showed greater improvement in mathematics than their peers," said Go player Zhu, also a coach from the school.
