ry was so wide spread that people of the later generations gave the game of Go a nickname: Decayed Helve.

[8] Legend has it that in the Northern Song Dynasty, Liu Zhongpu, the National Champion in the game of Go, played a game of Go with a young girl in a teahouse. Liu’s white pieces took all the upper hands in the game. Very pleased with himself, Liu made no effort of concealing his arrogance, so the young girl excused herself and soon returned with a granny, who picked up where the young girl had left off in the game of Go. With much ease, the granny placed her pieces on the board quickly and completely turned the game around, knocking Liu off his feet. The utmost anxiety and desperation hit Liu hard and he began spitting up blood from the frustration. Only after he had lost the game did he realize that the young girl and the granny were not human but celestial beings.

[9] Legend has it that when Xuan-Zong, the emperor of Tang, fled to Szechwan because of An Lushan’s revolt. Wang Jixin, his royal champion of Go, also followed. And along the way, one day, Wang Jixin put up for the night under the eave of an old farmer granny’s house, when he heard the bed talk between the old granny and her daughter-in-law. Turned out they were playing a game of Go while lying on bed in the dark simply by spelling out their moves. Greatly shaken by the brilliant moves, Wang Jixin memorized all the moves in the game quietly. The next morning when he tried to consult the old granny and her daughter-in-law, he found out that the house was actually an abandoned house with no one living in it. He suspected that the old granny and her daughter-in-law were actually fairy foxes who had assumed human shape.

[10] Confucius looked on the game of Go as a waste of time, thus criticized it as unorthodox school.

[11] These are terms in the game of Go. Please see this web page for more information.

[12] See the painting here.

[13] A highly cursive script style in Chinese calligraphy (a subset of Grass Style calligraphy) executed with strokes flowing together. Not only the style writing is free and easy, but also fast.

[14] The style of calligraphy for inscriptions on drum-shaped stone blocks of the Warring States Period (475-221 B.C.)

[15] Han Yu, a famous poet, writer, and philosopher of the Tang Dynasty.

[16] See the calligraphy book here.

[17] Yan Zhenqing (709-785AD) is a famous calligraphy artist during the Tang Dynasty who created the Yan Style of Chinese Calligraphy.

[18] Six Directions: The six cardinal directions: front, back, left, right, above, and below, meaning all under heaven.

[19] Nine Fields: North, South, East, West, Middle, Northwest, Northeast, Southwest, Southeast, meaning the world.

[20] A famous general during the Three Kingdoms period. See Romance of the Three Kingdoms for the story of Zhang Fei.

[21] Huai Su was another very famous Calligraphy Artist in Chinese history. See the calligraphy book here.

[22] A special term in the game of Go. Please see this web page for more information.