Study hard. Go to college. Get a degree ... in Baduk?

VincentV blogs from Switzerland on Let's Go!. In the future, he might have the opportunity to attend Myongji University in Seoul, South Korea, where they offer a degree program in Baduk.

What's interesting is that one of VincentV's colleagues, Jens Henker (aka Tudorus on KGS), is already in the program and I was told that the classes are offered in English!

Update: As I later learned, the classes are taught in Korean.

The degree is conferred by the Department of Baduk Studies under the College of Arts & Physical Education. They have an English website so you can get an overview of the curriculum and descriptions of the courses.

Students there will be expected to have achieved a rank of 5-Dan upon graduation. Here's the introductory text from the department's web page.

The Department of Baduk Studies was established in 1997, for the first time in world history, to pursue an academic study of baduk. Although baduk has been regarded as a precious culture, it had not been studied by the scientific approach due to man's traditional adherence to its technique alone. The department will contribute to the development of baduk culture by providing a variety of knowledge based on a new paradigm beyond the technique-biased approach to Baduk.

As Korea has become the strongest and the most actively Baduk-playing country in the world, it is expected to play a leading role in a variety of activities of Baduk. In response to this trend, the Department of Baduk Studies has been set up with the following aims:

1. To promote students Baduk strength above the 5 dan level
2. To acquire a deeper knowledge of life from Baduk culture
3. To develop and educate the leaders in the field of Baduk
4. To teach necessary foreign languages to those who can introduce Baduk culture to the world.

The Department teaches Baduk theory and technique systematically, researches Baduk culture in depth, and acquires wide and various knowledge related to Baduk. The graduates will make proper Baduk leaders in Korea and also in foreign countries.

Ming Dynasty Yunzi



Pong Yen of Yellow Mountain Imports is still in China and he sent me some new photos of 500 year-old Yunzi stones. Just the same as today's Yunzi, these stones are single-convex and played with the flat side down.




As is somewhat noticeable in these two photos, the stones are translucent.



This close-up of the stones on a goban show notable differences in size. I don't know if these stones were from the same set or if the variations were typical.


Guangzhou Go street scene



Pong also sent me some photos of the Go street scenes in Guangzhou.




These images very much remind me of the park in San Francisco's Chinatown except that the folks there play Xiangqi instead of Weiqi. I sometimes think that a group of Weiqi players should start having more public games in Chinatown to see if it brings out some closeted players.




As is obvious from these two photos, the play's the thing and aesthetics take a back-seat. The boards are notably beat-up from continuous use. The board centers seem to take the most punishment.