Traditional Game Marks New Era of Cultural Exchange 圍棋比賽開啟文化交流新紀元

馮明輝（音） 譯/范婕

“Go is like a mirror， if you allow yourself to look into it. You should accept all of your mistakes and realize how flawed your plans are and how inconsistent your ideas are， maybe see ideas you didn’t even know. In daily life， you don’t have that，” describes Timo Schreiber， Vice Chair of Berlin Go Association during an interview with China Daily Website at China Cultural Center in Berlin.

Go is a board game for two players that demands strenuous， abstract and logical strategies. To win， the players must use black and white playing pieces， called stones， to surround more territory than the opponent on a checkered board. The game was invented in China more than 2，500 years ago and enjoys a wide fan base， mostly in East Asia， but it is becoming more prevalent in other areas of the world. Andreas Urban， chair of Berlin Go Association， estimated that there are roughly 2，500 regular players in Germany.

Schreiber was introduced to the game 16 years ago by a classmate， but thought the game rather mediocre and boring at first. “That is the problem when you teach new players，” he said. “At first they cannot see that it’s a very interesting game. At the beginning you cannot understand.”

Similarly， Urban accidentally discovered a book on Go on his mother’s bookshelf when he was 37 years old. “I tried to understand the rules because I love board games and I did not get it，” added Urban.

But both found the game more and more intriguing after practice. The rules are rather simple， and the battlefield is clearly laid before the player’s eyes， but the game is so much more than just moving stones around the board.

“It is certainly an established form of art. In ancient Chinese history it is already one of the four traditional fine arts， along with playing guqin， writing and painting. It is also nicknamed ‘hand talk’ in Korea. They say it’s like speaking to another but with your hands. If you play against somebody who’s very experienced， it’s like you talk to each other except you cannot tell any lies or be unclear. You make a very direct message. It’s very interesting to play on the Go board， something I’ve never seen in any other game，” explained Schreiber.

And it is this straight-forwardness， elegance and need to think logically that Schreiber believes could be beneficial for children. “I recommend children to learn Go. They learn that there is always someone stronger， which is okay， and they learn that it’s okay to lose. They learn how to improve from their mistakes and say tomorrow will be better than today，” he explained.

To the experienced players， Go carries not just significance in leisure， but also a much more philosophical meaning on a deeper cultural ground. When two players meet on the Go board， they are restricted by the same rules， faced with the same game， but carry completely different tactics. One of the best ways to improve is to play against someone who’s stronger， as well as from different backgrounds. A game of Go takes a lot of time and effort to understand the opponent’s ideas. To Schreiber， cross-cultural communication and Go share that at their roots.

“Many are too quick to judge other people’s cultures. A proverb says， ‘Tell me， I’ll forget; Show me， I may remember; Involve me， and I will understand.’ With Go， you only get stronger if you play against different players. With culture， you need to go and talk to people， even better if in their language. If you can’t， maybe it’s enough to use the Go board as the language.”

As cooperation between China and Germany deepens in many aspects of life， including art and culture， efforts have also been made to further popularize Go in Europe. The European Go Congress has been hosting annual tournaments since 1983. The Berlin Go Association has worked together with the China Cultural Center in Berlin to host The China Cup， an international Go tournament which sees roughly 50 to 100 players a year. The tournament has helped to develop the Go scene in Europe for 10 years.

Training courses are also offered， and the duo sometimes invite professional players from China to deliver lectures for game lovers in Europe. A Grand Slam Tournament chooses professional players， who are in turn acknowledged by the Chinese Go Association， and offers them chances to study the skills of the game in China.

To give players on both sides a chance to try their hands at one another， Urban believes China and Germany could both do their parts.

“You have so many players， especially very young pupils， I heard about 2 million. Here we have more adult players. Maybe we could learn from each other; maybe Chinese could also get more adult players，” he said.

“仔細看一看，下圍棋就好像是在照鏡子，你得接受自己所有的失誤，會意識到自己的計劃存在漏洞，所思所想缺乏連貫性，或許還會有新發現，讓你茅塞頓開。你在日常生活中不會有這樣的體驗。”蒂默·施賴伯是柏林圍棋協會的副會長，他在位于柏林的中國文化中心接受中國日報網的采訪時做了以上這段描述。

圍棋是一種由兩位棋手參與的棋類競技比賽，講究用抽象思維和邏輯思維制定精妙的計策。有黑白兩色棋子，一位棋手執一色，落子包圍對方棋子，在格子棋盤上占領較多區域的一方為勝。圍棋2500多年前誕生于中國，主要流行于東亞，廣受人們的喜愛，而如今，世界其他地區也有越來越多的人愛上了圍棋。據柏林圍棋協會會長安德烈亞斯·烏爾班的估計，德國大約有2500位經常下圍棋的棋手。

施賴伯是16年前經一位同學的引介接觸到圍棋的，起初他覺得這種棋很一般，沒什么意思。“這是教新手時常遇到的問題，剛開始他們體會不到圍棋的樂趣，無法理解其中的奧妙。”施賴伯說道。

烏爾班也有相似的經歷。37歲時，他在母親的書架上偶然發現一本關于圍棋的書。烏爾班補充說：“我喜歡棋類游戲，想去弄明白圍棋的下法，但當時卻是一頭霧水。”

然而，兩人都是經過練習后越發覺得圍棋妙趣橫生。圍棋的規則非常簡單，兩位棋手在面前的棋盤上展開對弈，而整個過程絕不僅僅是動動棋子。

施賴伯解釋道：“圍棋絕對是一種精妙的技藝，在中國古代，它就與古琴、書法和繪畫并稱為‘文人四藝’。在韓國，圍棋還被謔稱為‘手談’，人們覺得下圍棋好比交談，只是不用嘴，而是用手。與經驗豐富的棋手下棋，就好像在和他談話，只是不能說謊，也不能含糊其辭，信息的傳達非常直接。下圍棋的整個過程真是非常有趣，在任何其他比賽中，我都不曾有過這種感受。”

圍棋讓人變得真誠坦率、氣質優雅，學會用邏輯思維去思考問題，施賴伯認為這些特質對孩子們都是有所裨益的。他解釋說：“我建議孩子們去學學下圍棋。他們會明白總有比自己更棒的人，不必為此耿耿于懷，學會坦然面對失敗;他們將學會從自己的錯誤中吸取經驗教訓，取得進步，告訴自己‘明天會更好’。”

對于有經驗的棋手來說，圍棋不僅是能提高個人修養的休閑活動，在更深的文化層面，它還有非常豐富的哲學意義。兩位棋手下棋時，受相同規則的約束，面對相同的棋局，但所采取的戰術卻完全不同。讓技術提高的最佳方法之一就是和比自己棋藝更精以及有著不同背景的人進行比拼。下一局棋，需要消耗大量的時間與精力去搞清楚對手的心思，施賴伯認為跨文化交流歸根到底也是這么一個過程。

“很多人常常對異國文化太快做出評判。俗話說：‘耳聞之，易忘卻;目睹之，或可記;參與之，知其詳而無惑。’要想讓自己的圍棋棋藝變得更精湛，就得和不同的對手展開對弈;要想了解異國文化，就得去和當地人交流，如果會說他們的語言更好，要是不會說，那就來下下圍棋吧，或許它足以充當溝通交流的媒介。”

隨著中德兩國在包括藝術與文化在內的多方面合作持續深化，進一步在歐洲推廣圍棋的工作也已經開展。自1983年以來，歐洲圍棋大會每年都會舉辦錦標賽。由柏林圍棋協會和柏林中國文化中心聯合舉辦的“中國杯”國際圍棋錦標賽每年大約有50至100名棋手參加，10年來，幫助促進了歐洲圍棋文化事業的發展。

同時，還開設了不少圍棋課程，柏林圍棋協會和柏林中國文化中心時而會從中國邀請職業棋手去為歐洲的圍棋愛好者們授課。歐洲圍棋大滿貫賽選拔出的專業棋手也會得到中國圍棋協會的認可，并有機會到中國研修棋藝。

烏爾班認為，為了讓兩國棋手有機會相互切磋棋藝，中德兩國都有各自的工作可做。

他說：“中國有那么多棋手，尤其還有一些年齡很小的學員，我聽說有200萬人左右;而德國的棋手大多是成年人。或許兩國的棋手可以相互學習，或許中國可以讓更多的成年人參與到圍棋競技中來。”