Five Benefits of Playing Go

By Jin Yong

In the Japanese Go Association hangs a banner which reads: “There are five benefits in playing the game of Go: making good friends,maintaining harmony with people around you,learning lessons in life,gaining spiritual enlightenment,and sustaining longevity.” Mr.Hao Keqiang,a leading enthusiast of Go,often mentions the “five benefits,” and Mr.Yan Wenjing,a renowned writer in China,also speaks highly of the slogan,regarding it very inspiring.

No one knows where the concept of the “five benefits” came from,but most believe it must come from Japan,for there is no such quotation in the ancient Chinese classical literature.The Chinese Go Association once asked Mr.Fujisawa Shuko,an Honorary Kisei title holder,who replied that he himself didn’t know the origin.

Louis Cha Leung-yung (1924-2018),better known by his pen name Jin Yong,was one of the most influential modern Chinese novelists.

Speaking of “making good friends” and “maintaining harmony with people around you,” all those who are fond of playing Go must have such an experience: sitting across the Go board,even for hours without uttering a single word,the two players have a deep empathy with each other and a friendship can be established spontaneously.It is through Go-playing that I have established an intimate friendship with intellectuals such as Shen Junshan,Yu Yingshi,Lin Haifeng,Chen Zude,and Hao Keqiang,not to speak of many young masters who have taught me how to play Go.A few Japanese guys,with whom we can only converse by writing as we speak different languages,have become good friends of mine through playing Go.As a prevalent saying in Japan goes,“There is no evil among people who play Go.” It certainly carries in itself a touch of selfstyled glory,yet the game itself proves to be undoubtedly fair to the extreme,free from any chance for trickery or deception as the slightest duplicity will instantly be detected.You may well say that each game is executed unknowingly with some moral exercises in it.

Go provides rigorous mind training and reasoning exercises,and some label it as“brain gymnastics.” Modern health care philosophy lays great stress on mental hygiene and attaches great importance to maintaining the function of the brain as all the movement of the human organs and viscera of the human body are governed by it.Some people keep a healthy mind even when they become physically declined at an old age,and they tend to live to an advanced age.That is the theoretical base for the consensus that longevity may be achieved from playing the game.The fact that famous players in our country like Wang Ziyan,Jin Yaxian,Guo Xuchu,Guo Tisheng,and many others,lived to their advanced years may well illustrate this philosophy.Mr.Wang Ziyan,a veteran player,is thought to be just a little bit weaker in playing Go,even while over the age of ninety.Mr.Yasunaga Hajime,a Japanese amateur master who lately took part in the grand event of the Go world in Hong Kong,joked that he himself couldn’t determine if he was 84 or 85 years old.He was no longer strong enough to walk steadily,yet he maintained his witty sharpness and forcefulness in playing Go,and remained humorous and well organized when delivering a speech.Immanuel Kant,Bertrand Russell,and other philosophers lived to an old age,which may reasonably be the result from their constant practice of their brains.Admittedly,continuous brain exercise does not always guarantee a long life,there could be many other factors.

As to “learning lessons in life” and“gaining spiritual enlightenment,” it is difficult to reach these stages for common people,especially the latter which can be regarded as the core of the “five benefits.”The “Ten Keys to Playing Go” concluded by Wang Jixin,the national master player in Tang Emperor Li Longji’s reign (712-756)are publicly accepted as the paragon of all the principles in playing Go,and are still printed on the cover page of many Japanese Go books today.“No greed for victory” is considered the first principle.It is for victory that we play and what do we play for if not for victory? Excessive desire for winning games is close to being greedy,and close to downfall.This is not only a principle in playing Go but also a philosophy in life,possibly applicable in the political arena,management of enterprises,and even in the securities market and gold bullion trading.We can desire victory but should not be too greedy.If this key point has been mastered,we can hope to raise our skills greatly in playing Go.

Mr.Wu Qingyuan used to mention: To play Go,one should maintain a “peaceful mind.” That is,only by keeping a peaceful state of mind and releasing your thought can you attain a higher level of mentality,which will surely exhibit itself at a higher level of the intellectual realm in playing Go.However,how can we ordinary people expect to attain that level? No matter what,even if it is beyond our reach,we can still get more or less closer to it if we get some understanding of it and keep it in mind.