THE CLASSICS OF WEIQI IN THIRTEEN CHAPTERS
INTRODUCTION
The Classic of Weiqi in Thirteen Chapters was written by Zhang Ni 27 during the Huangyou period (1049-1054 A.D.) of the Song dynasty.
Zuozhuan stated: “To stuff oneself with food all day without worrying about anything is difficult indeed! But what about weiqi players then? it is better to be one of them than to do nothing!”28.
In his Xinlun, Huan Tan wrote: “There is now a game called weiqi, concerning which some say that it is a kind of simulation of war. The skilful player, fully cognisant of its configurations, places his pieces so as to encircle those of his opponent and thus win. The average player, although he aims at gaining advantages, can isolate his adversary. Therefore, whether he wins or loses, he must always be attentive and circumspect, and must also carefully calculate and evaluate in order to be certain of winning. The inexpert player, although able to defend sides and corners, moves in small areas, limiting himself simply to surviving in small portions of territory”29. Since the period of the Springs and Autumns all ages have had players of these categories, so that the Way of weiqi has always prospered. The most important problems dealing with victory and defeat, divided into thirteen chapters, are now examined. Extracts from Sunzi Bingfa have sometimes been inserted in the text.
