30 Sep, 2012 Venue: Bishan Library

1. 30 Sep, 2012 Venue: Bishan Library Weiqi in Chinese culture 4000 years of age

2. History of Weiqi • Legends trace the origin of the game to Emperor Yao (2357-2255 BC) said to have had his counselor Shun to design it for his unruly son, Dan Zhu, to favorably influence him. • Zhuge Liang relates that: “The game of Weiqi is essentially a miniature representation of society, of mankind or of a man's life. • Reference: http://www.squidoo.com/The_game_of_Go • http://academic.mu.edu/meissnerd/rudy.html

3. Contents • History and Culture of Weiqi • Benefits of Weiqi • Introduction of Weiqi

4. History of Weiqi • Weiqi has an ultra long history of 4300 years! • Weiqi still exists today without having any sign of declination after 4000 years! • The popularity of the game is still flourishing! • http://brainz.org/beyond-monopoly-15-greatest-board-games-all-time/ • http://www.ranker.com/crowdranked-list/the-best-board-games-of-all-time

5. Weiqi and Chinese Culture In olden dynasty days of China, around 1000AD, an imperial scholar is known to be well-trained in TheFour Cultural Skills (四艺).

6. Weiqi and Chinese Culture Knowing how to play the game of Weiqi is a requirement needed by the imperial courts of that era.

7. A Gameof Wisdom for all generations • Weiqi has many benefits. Playing it will bring tremendous wisdom to a person. • It is estimated at least a hundred million people had known or played this game.

8. 3 Benefits for children

9. Benefit # 1 • GOOD LOGICAL THINKING • Critical thinking

10. Benefit # 2 • PROMOTES CREATIVITY OF THE MIND • Drawing a picture in the mind for the game 

11. Benefit # 3 http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=18235&start=20 • Have FUN! • Children all around the world, are learning and playing Weiqi. • Weiqi has become a strong education tool for many schools in Asian countries. • Photo references

17. Thai students in a Weiqi tournament

18. Singapore vs Thailand

19. 1 to many fun instruction games

20. China kids learning Weiqi

21. World Mind Sport Games - Youth Category (Paris 2012)

22. Up next: 3 major benefits for the adults

23. Benefit #4: Business Family Personal life like in studies, career  etc. • Improve planning skill      - Planning ahead in the game. •  - a useful skill that can be applied in: 

24. Benefit #5: • Macro view thinking capabilities • Good training tool for • Project managers • Strategic business managers • Parents at home

25. Benefit #6: • Stress management tool • Ability to handle mental stress at work • A easy and relax way of training up our thinking power • A form of stress relief • Life-long friendships forging • Friendly activities organized by SWA. • Weiqi can never run out of topics • We can relate it to life, business, relationship, financial system etc.

26. Testimonies http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=18235&start=20

27. From a parent: During last several years, I have collected information regarding how Weiqi can improve a child’s intelligence, concentration, memory ability. Interestingly, all the principles learned during Weiqi training can be applied to children's daily life. Most of the Weiqi trained kids are humble, intelligent, have strong memory and logic analysis ability. I would like to share it with everybody these examples: #1 Kheng Hun, a GEP student, scored 272 in 2010 PSLE, accepted by RI via DSA, strong in Weiqi, gold medal in NUS High Olympiad Maths when he was in P4, P5, P6 for 3 consecutive years. #2 Li Kai, a GEP student, very strong in Weiqi (in P6 now, still spending time in Weiqi training during weekend in Singapore Weiqi Association). He has received lots of Olympiad Maths medals in the past years (for example Gold for 2009 AMC8). #3 Xiang Yu, had lots of Champions in primary school Weiqi competitions, Champion of Shou Tan Cup in P5. Top student in his school, National Award in 2010 AMC8, Gold medal in National Mathematical Olympiad of Singapore 2010 (NUS high Olympiad maths) (http://oas.highsch.nus.edu.sg/NMOS/NMOS ... 202010.pdf )

28. #4 Yifei is a real Weiqi lover, very strong in it, 4th in 2010 World Youth Weiqi Championship, Bronze medal in ACS Olympiad Maths. #5 Huang Qi, GEP student, lots of Champions in primary school Weiqi competition, 1st runner up in 2010 Singapore National Ladies Weiqi Open Group. Also strong in Olympiad Math. #6 Ai Yun, Top student, lots of medals in primary school Weiqi competition, Champion for 2010 Singapore National Ladies Weiqi Junior Group. Also strong in Olympiad Math. #7 Shu Wei, Top student in her school. Lots of Champions in primary school Weiqi competition, Champion of 2010 Singapore National Ladies Weiqi Open Group. Now in P5, Distinction in English and Writing, Science in ICAS, high distinction in ICAS Math. Bronze Medal in 2010 AMC8. #8 Kang Zeng, a GEP student, lots of medals in Primary school Weiqi competition, High distinction in ICAS Maths

29. Inconclusion: Weiqi is not just a game but it is also a culturalart and a useful skill; that combines: mathematics, businessintelligence, science, creativity and culture. It is holistically crafted for our humanintelligence, wisdom, characterbuildingand reallifestrategiclearning. Thank you!

30. We hope you can enjoy a happy Weiqi learning journey! Have a nice weekend! Next: Questions and Answers session

31. Questions and Answers End of session

32. A short introduction of Weiqi • Uses simple equipments • Weiqi board , 19 x 19 or 13 x 13 or 9 x 9 • Black stones and white stones • Cultural naming of the Weiqi board • 9 star points – our Sun and the solar system • 361 points representing the days in a year • Black and white represents day and night • Four corners represents the 4 seasons or 4 corners of the earth or the 4 cardinal directions • Weiqi at its best is played by two persons. • One player play black, the other play white. • Usually the player who is stronger will play white. • The player with black will play first. • Each player plays one move at a time. • Objective of the game is relatively simple. • That is to surround as many points or intersections on the board. • Or by capturing (killing) opponents stones.