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The Art of Contest
November 8, 2004
By Roy Laird
OK, I admit it, when
it comes to the history of go, I am a total wonk. There's a lot of important
history there and I love it! So when I heard that ancient board games
would be the subject of a fascinating exhibit on display at the Asia Society, at
70th St. and Park Avenue in New York City until January 16, 2005, I had to
go.
The collection
includes several antique examples of go equipment, as well as examples of other
ancient games. I stopped in as a guide was beginning a tour of the three
exhibits on display at this small, precious jewel, fifteen minute on foot from
the Metropolitan Museum. After exploring displays of extraordinary Indian
jewelry and painting, we moved on to the games exhibit. The guide explained that
the curator had divided the games into four categories -- chance, skill,
matching and physical prowess. In the "chance" section, we learned that
"Chutes and Ladders", the game we all played as children, had its origins as an
Indian game of moral instruction, which the British adapted as "Snakes and
Ladders." A similar Chinese game is played on a huge board filled with
tiny characters.
As our group approached the
"Skill" area, the guide mentioned that "weegee" was revered in China as one of
the "Four Accomplishments" of medieval Chinese noblemen. She described the
game's essential "capturing" characteristics while we gathered around a game
board. (Unfortunately the game board was actually sugoroku, a forerunner
of backgammon, but it's the thought that counts.)
The objects on display themselves include a
richly decorated board owned by the Tokugawa family, (see www.usgo.org this week
for a sneak photo of that display) and a more primitive Korean board, the
surface scored with numerous markings. Apparently Korean boards were
strung inside to resonate when stones were played. To learn more, go to www.asiasociety.org/pressroom/rel-asian_games.html
If you can't make it, in some ways the catalog is even better, with hundreds of
color photos and twenty-three chapters that tell the story of Asian games.
I guarantee that learning about the game's distinguished history will increase
your enjoyment when you know that you're placing stones on a board just as
people have been placing stones on a board for thousands of years.
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