On November 30, 2014, Lao Xiao was reporting on the Jiangxi Amateur League in Ganzhou, when the news of the death of the master Xian came, and there was a sigh inside and outside the arena. Wu Qingyuan's influence on Go is immeasurable, and he has become a symbol of Go, like a god in the minds of Go people.
Six years after artificial intelligence has become the norm in the chess world, the master's Go ideas and extensive and in-depth exploration of Go culture are particularly worthy of our deep consideration.
Century-old Qingyuan – a cultural symbol of a century
A generation of chess saint Wu Qingyuan soul returned to Dao Mountain, a hundred years of achievement in the chess industry immortal legend. He is a great master who can shock the ancient world, and he is also a longevity person who has never been in the chess world before. Not long ago, the chess world had just solemnly celebrated the master's centenary birthday, and the master's departure at this time seemed to be providence - the task in the human world had been completed, and it was time to return to the universe to continue to explore a deeper chess path.
Wu Qingyuan's life is full of legends, from teenager to youth to middle age to old age, has always been the focus of the chess world. His most direct contribution was to play all the top masters in the Japanese chess world at that time, who were the "Kingdom of Go", to the first or first game through the most exciting way of playing Go, which was the "Kingdom of Go". According to the ancients, this is the real "first to spare the world". Because of the brilliant achievements, they can make their Own Go ideas be valued. The "new layout" created by Wu Qingyuan and Mugu Shi together greatly opened up the thinking of modern Go, and his high winning rate in the era of unsightly white let other chess players know that the original chess could be played so sharply. It can be said that without the emergence of Wu Qingyuan, the technological progress of modern Go would not be so rapid, and in theory, it would not soon step into a new realm. Masaki Takemiya, a famous Japanese super-first-class chess player, said: "It is all the blessing of Mr. Togo that we are now able to live a good life as a professional chess player." ”
At its peak, Wu Qingyuan's "strength" was incomparable. Shigeru Kitani, Utaro Hashimoto, Tomosai Fujisawa, Eio Sakata, and Shuge Takakawa, which one is not a master of chess history? But they ran wild in front of Wu Qingyuan and had little power to fight back. Later masters also admired Wu Qingyuan, and Zhao Zhixun, who was called "the three geniuses of ancient and modern times" with Ogawa Dao and Wu Qingyuan, said: "Dao Ce and Xiu Ce are of course very strong, but because they have not directly fought, it is difficult to really understand this 'strong'. In this sense, Teacher Wu's strength is obvious. Lee Chang-ho, who received the highest evaluation in the chess industry after Wu Qingyuan, said that he never thought he could be compared with Mr. Wu, who is the biggest genius in the history of Go. Let the opponents, let the descendants, let the masters of foreign countries who have never admired their own style push Xu Rusi, no wonder Mr. Yang Zhenning said: "Wu Qingyuan's status in Go is even higher than Einstein's status in physics." ”
Many people commented that Wu Qingyuan was the strongest in the history of Go, and of course, there were voices that did not agree. Analyzing this problem from the chess score alone is fruitless, no one can surpass their own era, Dao Ce or Huang Longshi, as long as they can continue to win chess in their own era, they are the strongest.
Wu Qingyuan created an era and influenced subsequent eras, and his real "strength" was actually outside of Go technology.
To be able to lead a cause into a new realm, there must be extremely strong spiritual power. Wu Qingyuan is not only a chess player, but also a cultural person, his thoughts are permeated with the essence of traditional Chinese culture, it can be said that he is a master who really introduced Go into the field of culture.
Wu Qingyuan was once addicted to religion and suffered criticism for it. In fact, the belief in religion shows the simplicity of Wu Qingyuan's soul. In the chaotic world of flames, he still pursues inner peace, he is a cultivator, an ascetic, and mortals cannot understand his realm. In his later years, Wu Qingyuan emphasized "neutralization", which coincided with the peace pursued by the general trend of the world, and had more connotations. It is said that Go is all-encompassing, but apart from Wu Qingyuan, what chess player can truly integrate the idea of Go with the world and society? If we digest Wu Qingyuan's Go ideas more, we will find that the future of Go is not even the goal of "popularization" that can be covered.
The more advanced people are, the more they appreciate Wu Qingyuan, even if the fields are different, but the "Tao" is the same. Jin Yong is considered to be the top master of "folk culture", but he has a special love for Go, the representative of "Ya culture", and has great respect for Wu Qingyuan, saying that Master Wu is one of the two people he admires the most, and the other is Fan Li, who helped Yue Wang Gou to defeat Wu Guo. Obviously, Fan Li and Wu Qingyuan's life realm touched Jin Yong, although he could not be as indifferent to fame and fortune as they were, but the yearning in his heart could not be contained.
Wu Qingyuan has long been a cultural symbol of the twentieth century, alongside top masters such as Lu Xun, Mei Lanfang, and Qi Baishi. His existence makes Go have the foundation of "cloud art", and they are proud to enter the room.
We remember the master, and we need to pass on the wisdom of the master. In today's impetuous era, Go is no longer a lonely green light, single-mindedly seeking the tao, but integrated into a variety of lively elements. This is a necessity for the development of the times, but the beauty of the essence cannot be discarded. While admiring the master's purity, while saying, "We can't do what he did", it seems ashamed, but in fact, the heart has not really integrated into the master's thoughts.
It is difficult for another Wu Qingyuan to appear in the world, even Li Changhao, who can devote himself to chess all his life like Master Wu and obtain shocking achievements, but because the history he has experienced is relatively simple, he cannot reach the height of the master's thoughts. Perhaps anticipating this in the dark, Wu Qingyuan insisted on it for a hundred years, and wanted to use all his strength to tell the world what is going on?
The master finally sailed the crane to the west, leaving us with sorrow, looking up at the sky, in awe, and dazed.
Wu Qingyuan is not only Wu Qingyuan, Go is not only Go. This hundred years have always shone brightly in the history of chess.