<p>下棋好也是聪明的表现吧，有一个聪明的头脑何尝不是一件值得赞扬的事呢？</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-03-26T20:42:58.157Z
2020-03-26T20:42:58.157Z
Risso
<p>I feel like this is a case of <code>One of these things is not like the other</code>.</p>

<p>The Four Arts of the Chinese Scholar are 琴、棋、书、画 ...</p>

<p>Therefore,</p>

<ul>
<li><p>琴 : <code>Musical instrument = great</code></p></li>
<li><p>书 : <code>Calligraphy        = great</code></p></li>
<li><p>画 : <code>Painting           = great</code></p></li>
</ul>

<p>These three no problems at all, all very sophisticated...</p>

<p>But how about 棋? What? 圍棋? Go? A board game? Seriously? Really? Go?</p>

<p>How can 'Go' be part of the <code>Four Arts of the Chinese Scholar</code>?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-05-19T15:11:55.520Z
isn't Go sophisticated? Much much more than chess!
user58955
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-05-19T15:19:47.737Z
@user58955 I never thought of any board game as being "sophisticated"...it's a game, no?!
Mou某
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-05-19T16:14:01.637Z
but it has a high degree of complexity, an intellectual challenge.
user58955
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-05-19T22:38:16.803Z
@user3306356 You are using modern mentality to measure something that's considered an intellectual art form historically. Here lies the issue.
deutschZuid
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-05-19T22:39:18.437Z
Which one of the four is not a game, and why does it matter?
NS.X.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-05-20T04:27:05.587Z
@deutschZuid and why is it "considered an intellectual art form historically"?
Mou某
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-05-20T04:27:51.323Z
@user3306356 Do some research yourself.
deutschZuid
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-05-20T04:32:07.590Z
@deutschZuid +1! excellent answer! riveting response! clearly shows insight! wow! blown away!
Mou某
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-05-20T06:02:50.377Z
Go would be "sophisticated" enough. Deep Blue defeated Kasparov many year ago, while even with much interest of programmers and mathematicians, as far as I know, a Go program hasn't been able to defeat an unknown professional Go player (I mean any player who gets dan grading from Chinese/Korean/Japanese Go Association) yet.
Stan
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-03-27T08:04:47.160Z
@Stan You might want to look into AplhaGo. AI is certainly better at Go than humans these days, but your comment was true up to just a few years ago!
Olle Linge
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-03-27T12:04:14.740Z
Well, one could even argue that how does knowing how to play a musical instrument, (represented by 琴) makes one a "scholar", then and now? I think a "scholar" was an all round adept or conversant with a variety of "arts", a kind of what we call a "cosmopolitan". So, a  scholar was not someone who is good at only calligraphy, painting and music, (the "soft, sensitive" side), but the "hard, intellectual" represented by being good at playing 棋. BTW, 棋 was a scholarly pursuit played by the well off leisure classes of people, not peasants who had no time nor inclination for pursuing the "arts"
Wayne Cheah
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-07-01T06:11:09.777Z
@OlleLinge Aha! Years passed, the world has changed. It's AlphaGo telling/warning us that the AI era is coming ... And now I become a deep learning engineer (mainly on computer vision) :P
Stan
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-07-01T08:12:28.370Z
@Stan You're back?!
Mou某
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-07-02T01:21:33.723Z
@Mo. Not yet. Maybe two or three years later when I'm not busy in my job. ... And let's not chat in comments :)
Stan
<phrase>
Explanation of why 棋 is included in 琴棋书画?
# Explanation of why 棋 is included in 琴棋书画?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2014-05-19)

I feel like this is a case of `One of these things is not like the other`.

The Four Arts of the Chinese Scholar are 琴、棋、书、画 ...

Therefore,

* 琴 : `Musical instrument = great`
* 书 : `Calligraphy = great`
* 画 : `Painting = great`

These three no problems at all, all very sophisticated...

But how about 棋? What? 圍棋? Go? A board game? Seriously? Really? Go?

How can 'Go' be part of the `Four Arts of the Chinese Scholar`?

**Tags:** phrase

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: isn't Go sophisticated? Much much more than chess!  
> **username_0**: @username_1 I never thought of any board game as being "sophisticated"...it's a game, no?!  
> **username_1**: but it has a high degree of complexity, an intellectual challenge.  
> **username_2**: @user3306356 You are using modern mentality to measure something that's considered an intellectual art form historically. Here lies the issue.  
> **username_3**: Which one of the four is not a game, and why does it matter?  
> **username_0**: @username_2 and why is it "considered an intellectual art form historically"?  
> **username_2**: @user3306356 Do some research yourself.  
> **username_0**: @username_2 +1! excellent answer! riveting response! clearly shows insight! wow! blown away!  
> **username_4**: Go would be "sophisticated" enough. Deep Blue defeated Kasparov many year ago, while even with much interest of programmers and mathematicians, as far as I know, a Go program hasn't been able to defeat an unknown professional Go player (I mean any player who gets dan grading from Chinese/Korean/Japanese Go Association) yet.  
> **username_5**: @username_4 You might want to look into AplhaGo. AI is certainly better at Go than humans these days, but your comment was true up to just a few years ago!  
> **username_6**: Well, one could even argue that how does knowing how to play a musical instrument, (represented by 琴) makes one a "scholar", then and now? I think a "scholar" was an all round adept or conversant with a variety of "arts", a kind of what we call a "cosmopolitan". So, a  scholar was not someone who is good at only calligraphy, painting and music, (the "soft, sensitive" side), but the "hard, intellectual" represented by being good at playing 棋. BTW, 棋 was a scholarly pursuit played by the well off leisure classes of people, not peasants who had no time nor inclination for pursuing the "arts"  
> **username_4**: @username_5 Aha! Years passed, the world has changed. It's AlphaGo telling/warning us that the AI era is coming ... And now I become a deep learning engineer (mainly on computer vision) :P  
> **username_0**: @username_4 You're back?!  
> **username_4**: @Mo. Not yet. Maybe two or three years later when I'm not busy in my job. ... And let's not chat in comments :)  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_7 on 2020-03-26. Score: 0

下棋好也是聪明的表现吧，有一个聪明的头脑何尝不是一件值得赞扬的事呢？


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