Chapter 1: Go in Literary Works: From Ancient to Middle Ages

Go is said to have been introduced to Japan from China. There are various theories about its introduction, but Go has appeared in many literary works since ancient times.
In the first chapter, we will focus on documents about Go and Go masters from ancient times to the Middle Ages.

Gosei Kanren

The first appearance in literature of the monk Kanren (寛蓮, 874-?), who was called Gosei (碁聖; lit. Sage of Go), is said to be Seikyuki (『西宮記』) [8 (Special11, banquet, game of Go)] [わ-14] written by MINAMOTO no Takaakira (源高明, 914-982) and dated September 24, 904.
Emperor Daigo (醍醐天皇) invited Kanren and Ushoben Kiyotsura (右少弁清貫) and had them play Go. According to this article, Kanren won the match and was given four rolls of “Kara-aya (唐綾, twill fabric imported from China).” In addition, he was paid a salary for the game.
This article only describes that a feast was held at the Shishinden (紫宸殿, the hall for state ceremonies) in the Imperial Palace and a game of Go was played there. What kind of person was Kanren?

The oldest work in which Kanren is called Gosei is Genji Monogatari (『源氏物語』, The Tale of Genji) [WA7-279], which has a passage saying “there was a time when he was taking on airs like the gentleman they called Gosei” (“Tenarai (手習, Writing Practice)”). It might simply mean a high priest who is a master of Go, but commentaries on The Tale of Genji, including the oldest one, Genji Shaku (『源氏釈』) [KG58-G40], say it refers to Kanren.

Kanren's anecdote as Gosei was told in Konjaku Monogatari Shu (『今昔物語集』, Tales of Times Now Past) (Tankaku Sosho (『丹鶴叢書』) [117-2]). There are two anecdotes in the passage titled “The Go master Kanren and the story of meeting the Go master woman.” The first one is the story of Emperor Daigo (885-930) and Kanren betting on the “Golden Pillow.” Kanren won the game and founded Miroku-ji Temple (弥勒寺), using the Golden Pillow as capital. The second one is a strange story of Kanren playing against a woman. The following is that story.
One day, while Kanren was on his way from the Imperial Palace to Ninna-ji Temple (仁和寺), which was also the palace of Retired Emperor Uda, he was stopped by a girl and asked to play a match of Go at a certain residence. He played the match, however, as it went on, the stones of Kanren became almost annihilated. Kanren run back to Ninna-ji Temple. The retired emperor heard what happened to Kanren, and felt suspicious. So he sent an envoy to the residence the next day. In the residence, there was only an elderly nun. As for the woman who had been there the night before, the envoy could only discover that she had come for katatagae (方違, old practice of reaching a destination by taking a different direction than going directly from one’s house, by putting up somewhere the night before) as part of tsuchiimi (土忌, in Onmyodo, the action of avoiding construction that violates the earth, such as building, in a certain place or direction). When the retired emperor heard about it, he thought it was strange, and he suspected that Kanren must have had a match with a monster.

This story may have been influenced by an episode about a master of Go named Wang Jixin (王積薪) in a collection of odd stories from the Tang Dynasty in China called Shuiki (『集異記』) [1-2224]. At an old woman's house in the mountains, where Jixin stayed for the night, he heard the landlady and her mother-in-law playing Go orally in the dark. The next day, after receiving a lesson from the woman, he left the house, but when he tried to go back to it, he found it had disappeared. The name of Wang Jixin can be found in the poetry of SUGAWARA no Michizane (菅原道真, 845-903), who was a contemporary with Kanren, and it seems that Wang Jixin was already known in Japan at that time. It suggests that the anecdote of Konjaku Monogatari Shu was inspired by the anecdote of Wang Jixin.

Women and Go

In the previous section, we introduced the word Gosei in The Tale of Genji. There are many descriptions about Go in literary works created by women in this period. In The Tale of Genji, Go appears in chapters other than “Tenarai (手習, Writing Practice).” In the chapter “Utsusemi (空蝉, The Cicada Shell),” there is a scene where two women, Utsusemi (空蝉) and Nokiba no Ogi (軒端荻, Utsusemi’s daughter-in-law), are playing a game of Go. In this story, there were casual exchanges between the two including Go terms. This suggests that Murasaki Shikibu (紫式部, the author) had a background in Go, and that the readers of the story naturally understood these exchanges. Also, in the chapter “Takekawa (竹河, Bamboo River)”, there is a scene where the daughters of Tamakazura play Go for the cherry blossoms in the garden and, in the chapter “Yadorigi” (“宿木, The Mistletoe”), there is a scene where the Emperor plays against Chunagon Minamoto no Kaoru(中納言源薫).

This is an ukiyo-e woodblock print depicting a scene in The Tale of Genji in which two women play Go together. This is a type of picture called a mitate-e (見立絵), which represents well-known classical subjects in a contemporary style.

Go and bets

In ancient times, there are many records of people betting money and goods on Go matches. For example, the following is a record of a game of Go held in front of Emperor Ninmyo (仁明天皇, 810-850) in October 839.

The emperor came to Shishinden and gave sake to his retainers. The emperor invited TOMO no Sukune Okatsuo (伴宿祢雄堅魚) and TOMO no Sukune Sukao (伴宿祢湏賀雄) to play a Go match. Both of them were masters of Go of that time. The stakes were 20 kan (an old unit of currency) of new money (they bet four kan per game and played 5 games in total). (Sukao’s record was 1 win and 4 loses)

In this way, money was bet on each game.
There is also a record in Nihon Sandai Jitsuroku (『日本三代実録』, Veritable Records of Three Reigns of Japan) [839-4] that money was bet on a game of Go. According to a description dated August 21, 874, it is stated that “The court noble invited the imperial prince to the Goin Palace (the Retired Emperor's Palace), gave 10 kan of new money, and had him allocate it for Shudan gambling.” Shudan (手談) is an elegant name for Go, and this description is said to be the first appearance of the word Shudan in Japanese literature.

After that, the money people bet on Go was called Gotesen (碁手銭) or Gote (碁手) in Japan. It gradually took on the meaning of a congratulatory gift on auspicious occasions. For example, in The Tale of Genji (“Yadorigi” (“宿木, The Mistleote”)), there is a description that “As is the custom, the celebration on the third night was private. On the fifth night, Kaoru sent fifty servings of ceremonial rice, prizes for the Go matches, and other stores of food, as custom demanded.” This example suggests that it was a custom at that time to send prizes for Go matches as a gift.

Furthermore, looking at the diaries of court nobles in the Muromachi period (1336-1467) and the Sengoku period (1467-1590), there are many descriptions that money and goods were bet on games of Go. As an example, in an article from Kanmon Nikki (『看聞日記』 [貴箱-14]) dated February 17, 1431, written by Imperial Prince Fushimi no Miya Sadafusa (伏見宮貞成親王, 1372-1456), it is stated that “After that, we played Go. I played Go with Chunagon (vice-councilor of the state) Mochitsune. Mochitsune won the game. I took out a prize (tea bottle), and he received it.” Indeed, seeing records from the medieval period, we can see that gambling often appears in scenes where court nobles and samurai gather together to compete for superiority. It can be said that betting on games of Go was one of them.

The game of Go in waka, classic Japanese short poems

Go has appeared in prose and poetry since ancient times. Among these appearances, there are examples of words derived from Go being used differently from their original meaning.
One of them is the word “ranka (爛柯),” which is the title of the book we will cover in Chapter 2. The word originated in ancient China and can be found in a document called Jutsuiki (述異記, Tales of strange matters) [853-223]. During the Jin Dynasty, a man named Wang Zhi went to Mt. Shishi in Xing'an County (present-day Quzhou City, Zhejiang Province) to cut wood. When Wang Zhi saw several youths playing Go and singing, he stopped to listen. A moment later, a child said, “Why don't you go home?” When he looked at his ax handle (柯, ka), it had rotted away (爛, ran). When he returned home, he saw no one from his own time.
The word “ranka” as a metaphor for losing track of time in the game of Go first appears in Japanese poetry in the imperial collection of Chinese poetry, Keikokushu, established in 827 (『経国集』, Chinese style poem collection for managing the country, edited by SHIGENO no Sadanushi. [寄別15-5] ).

After that, the following waka was included with kotobagaki (the headnote of a short Japanese poem) in Kokinshu (『古今集』) (Volume 18, Zoka (Miscellaneous poems) 2nd) [き-15], which is the first imperial anthology of Japanese poetry.

When he was in Tsukushi, Tomonori sent this poem to the home of a friend where he had often gone to play Go, telling him that he would be returning to the capital.
Home at last and yet
it is not what it once was
to me now that I
long for that place of exile
where the ax handle crumbled

KI no Tomonori (紀友則)

Also, the following waka were selected for Gosen Wakashu (『後撰和歌集』, Later Collection of Japanese Poems) (Volume 20 Felicitations) [837-2], which is the second imperial waka anthology.

In the Imperial Palace, Kiyoko was offered a Go board by Miya no Onkata. Looking at the lid of the Go box, she made a waka poem.
Even if your ax handle
completely rotted away,
until your life
comes to the very end,
let’s enjoy the game of Go

Myobu no Kiyoko (命婦清子)

Other waka poems with “the ax handle” are included in Gosen Wakashu, but its usage shifted away from Go and came to be used as an expression for “a long time having passed.”

Next Chapter 2:
The System of Go