Chen Caozhi and Jiang Sixuan played for nearly two hours. By the time the game ended, dusk had fallen, and attendants from the Minister of Works' Office lit eight large, triple-wicked lamps, filling the Elegant Speech Teahouse with light.
Lu Shi, Lu Na, Wang Biaozhi, Wang Ningzhi, Han Kangbo, Huan Mi, and the others had already taken their leave of Sima Yu. Those who remained to watch were all Go enthusiasts, including Yu Yun. Though Yu Yun resented Chen Caozhi, a game this splendid was not to be missed.
During the Wei-Jin period, society underwent violent upheavals. The suffering of death and disorder awakened an intense awareness of life among the scholarly class. Many indulged in pleasure on the surface while harboring profound sorrow within. They drank through the night, took mineral powders, feasted and roamed, and behaved and spoke in all manner of strange ways, using fleeting pleasures to conceal or escape their eternal fear of death. It was during the Wei-Jin period that Go rose in standing, becoming one of the three great arts alongside calligraphy and music. Its alternative names, "Hand Talk," "Forget Worry," and "Sitting in Seclusion," all appeared during this period. Ji Kang said, "The zither and Go bring their own delight; distant wandering is to be treasured." Go served the same purpose as drinking and taking mineral powders: half a day slipped away unnoticed over a single game. This was what it meant to dispel care. Masters of pure conversation were often masters of Go as well; it was the renowned Zhi Daolin who called Go "Hand Talk." A game could also reveal the players' magnanimity and bearing. That was why Wang Dao had once tested Jiang Sixuan through Go. Thus, someone skilled at Go wielded no less influence among scholars than someone skilled