Scholars Playing Go under Pine Trees

Five Tang dynasty (618–907) scholars enjoy a game of go (weiqi) in an outdoor setting. Along with the other ancient board games of Chinese chess (xiangqi) and double sixes (liubo), go symbolized intellectual refinement, an essential trait of any Confucian scholar. The scholar at far right sits on a very low wooden seat, possibly indicating his lower status. Go was one of the “four arts” (siyi) required of Chinese scholars, which also included mastery of the zither (qin), calligraphy (shu), and painting (hua). This painting was probably one of a set of four, each depicting one of the four arts.