Wei qi life: a game for the creative-minded

What is this game really about? Is it a game of capturing stones and securing territory? Yes! Is that it? 

Nope. Not by a long shot. 

As a beginner you will start by learning the basic concepts of building territory and capturing stones by placing down one stone at a time. You will learn common shapes that happen on the board, how to keep your stones connected and how to attack your opponent's territory.  This is correct but you cannot stop there because this is only the beginning.

As you advance in your playing and grow stronger, you will begin to see the many possibilities on the board. The board becomes to you an empty canvas and the stones become your paint. Only smooth, round dots are allowed to be placed on the board but that won't be a big hindrance and with each game you will paint new paintings and horizons.

It is said that there are more configurations on the board than there are atoms in the universe and because it is like this, the possibilities of what you can come up with is almost endless.

In china and not just modern day china but ancient china, wei qi is known as one of the four arts of the chinese scholar. The four arts are qin, qi, shu, hua and in english these words translate to music, go, calligraphy and chinese brush painting. It was considered to be important that any of chinese aristocracy be able to do all four and be good at it. These four arts are not just skills to be learned by common civilians but are the four talents to be acquired and mastered by the chinese elite. Even to this day, these four arts are seen as some of the most prized skills to learn in chinese culture and not just in china but throughout asia.

As a little girl my father saw to it that I learned calligraphy and picked up a musical instrument and though I didn't learn chinese brush painting as much, I definitely knew what it was and got to watch artists paint their paintings. These four arts of the chinese scholar(qin, qi, shu and hua) have a long history in china which has not ceased to this day. 

Do you know what else this means? In ancient china, wei qi was not just a game. It was a form of art on the same level as music and painting.

To be honest I don't recommend that a wei qi beginner try to be creative with their game just yet. They must first learn the basic strategies and rules before they can set out to be creative with their moves and strategies but it is good to keep this in mind even as one begins their journey as a wei qi player.

Wei qi is a form of art like any other art forms out there. With each game you will paint a new picture and now it is your turn. What will you paint with every new game?