Dynamic Divisions
The Tactics of Weiqi 圍棋 and Strategic Space in Imperial China
In: Journal of Chinese Military HistoryA major and as yet insurmountable obstacle in our comprehension of pre-modern Chinese military culture is the unfortunate dearth of detailed battle scenes or attack plans. The historiographical record simply does not include more than the barest outlines of how battles transpired. This essay offers a possible back-door method for accessing military movements and formations on an abstract level. It contends that the ancient game of weiqi, commonly known in the West by its Japanese name, Go, may afford insight into some of the military maneuvers likely employed in the Tang and Song dynasties, and perhaps even earlier. Using the earliest game maps available, found in the Song-era Wangyou qingle ji, with additional input from Ming and Qing texts, the essay spatially analyzes the tactical terms from a manuscript attributed to an author from the Five Dynasties and early Song periods, the Weiqi yili, and illustrates their potential employment using two historical passages, one from the Jiu Tangshu and another from the Hanshu.
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1
Graff 2009, 145.
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2
Graff 2009, 161.
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5
See Liu 1985, 148-49.
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6
Kissinger 2011, 23.
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7
Kissinger 2011, 22.
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8
Kissinger 2011, 342.
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10
Boorman 1969, 6.
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11
Boorman 1969, 8.
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12
Boorman 1969, 56.
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13
Moskowitz 2013, 45.
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14
Moskowitz 2013, 25.
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15
Moskowitz 2013, 45.
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16
Liu 1985, 410-416.
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17
Lo and Wang 2004, 196.
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20
Liu 1985, 119. The piece first appears in Ouyang Xun 2010, 74.1273. It also appears in a number of other collections, including the Guwen yuan 古文苑, suggested to be a Tang-era compendium, and various reprints of the Xuanxuan qijing 玄玄棋經. For the Guwen yuan, see the Siku quanshu, v. 189.
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21
This poem also appears in Ouyang Xun 2010, 74.1271-2 and in other collections, including the Guwen yuan 古文苑 and the Xuanxuan qijing 玄玄棋經.
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23
See Gunter 2004.
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24
Yang 1981, Xi 25.15, 1109; The Ch’un Ts’ew with the Tso Chuan 1960, Xiang Gong, 25th year, 517. Translation modified.
-
25
Xu 1988, 3A.37b, 104.
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28
Lo and Wang 2004, 187-88. See also Shi 1991, 88.
-
35
Cheng 1990, 30, 164.
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44
See Cheng 1990, 34-46.
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45
See Cheng 1990, 14-16.
-
46
For the complete discussion, see Cheng 1990, 22-23.
-
52
Dong 1996, 2-5.
-
53
De Weerdt 2011, 249.
-
54
De Weerdt 2011, 249.
-
55
De Weerdt 2011, 247. As de Weerdt also mentions in a footnote, the identification of the maps by a title “turns them into objects to be commented upon.” See also de Weerdt 2009, 148.
-
84
See Dong 1996, 4.
-
85
See Cheng 1990, 123-25.
-
87
Dong 1996, 3.
-
89
Dong 1996, 5.
-
94
Dong 1996, 3.
-
95
Dong 1996, 4.
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96
See Cheng 1990, 125.
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97
The example is taken from Graff 2009, 147.
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103
See Di Cosmo 2002, 213-14. Italics mine.
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Dynamic Divisions
The Tactics of Weiqi 圍棋 and Strategic Space in Imperial China
In: Journal of Chinese Military HistoryA major and as yet insurmountable obstacle in our comprehension of pre-modern Chinese military culture is the unfortunate dearth of detailed battle scenes or attack plans. The historiographical record simply does not include more than the barest outlines of how battles transpired. This essay offers a possible back-door method for accessing military movements and formations on an abstract level. It contends that the ancient game of weiqi, commonly known in the West by its Japanese name, Go, may afford insight into some of the military maneuvers likely employed in the Tang and Song dynasties, and perhaps even earlier. Using the earliest game maps available, found in the Song-era Wangyou qingle ji, with additional input from Ming and Qing texts, the essay spatially analyzes the tactical terms from a manuscript attributed to an author from the Five Dynasties and early Song periods, the Weiqi yili, and illustrates their potential employment using two historical passages, one from the Jiu Tangshu and another from the Hanshu.
| All Time | Past Year | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 503 | 45 | 4 |
| Full Text Views | 221 | 6 | 0 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 50 | 12 | 0 |