THE ANCIENT WHITE APE WHO COULD PLAY GO - AND DIPLOMACY
by John Fairbairn
Albino apes have apparently been recorded by zoologists. Today they would be subjects of scientific curiosity. In ancient times, it is easy to imagine, they would become the stuff of legend.
This story, recorded by Mo Langzi of the Qing dynasty in his "Xihu Jiahua" (Fine tales of the Western Lake), is set in the area of that famous lake, near Hangzhou.
There was a steep cliff, and below it a scholar's refuge, the Cold Spring Pavilion. Halfway up the cliff was a cave where lived an ape that could speak. It was a white ape. Now this was around the time when the emperor Xiao Zong of the Southern Song reigned (1162-94), and the time of the celebrated Buddhist monk Ji Gong. The monk, serving in Lingyin (now Lin'an) temple near Hangzhou, used to pass the mountain as he recited his scriptures to the beat of the wooden "fish", hollow wooden blocks knocked together three times.
When the ape heard the knocking, he would scamper down the hillside with a present of fruit for Ji Gong, and then they would play games together.
One day, the Prefect of Lin'an, Yuan Yuan, visited the temple and asked the abbot about the cave. He had heard that it housed a 1,000-year-old white ape that could play board games. Was this true? The abbot replied that the ape was indeed intelligent, and could communicate. The Prefect was a skilled chess and go player and naturally wanted to test the ape's skill for himself. So he and the abbot went to Cold Spring Pavilion, where they asked Ji Gong to summon the ape by knocking the fish clappers.
The ape and the Prefect began with a game of xiangqi (Chinese chess). The Prefect deployed a Centre-file Cannon, while the ape set up a Screened Horses opening, implying "you are a general but I am an army." A chaotic battle ensued, but when the clouds dispersed the Prefect's king was trapped in his palace, facing checkmate.
Even so, the Prefect was not convinced the ape was truly intelligent. So he called for a go board. He started with the Large Corner opening, and again a very difficult game ensued. Towards the end it became apparent that the Prefect was about to lose by a single point. His face told its own story: "For twenty years I have had no rival, but today I am about to lose to an ape. How low have I fallen!"
At this point Ji Gong decided to resume his chanting, and began a sutra about karma as he stroked the ape's head. The ape understood and contrived instead to lose by one point.
Whether you believe this was an ape or a white-haired hermit does not devalue the quality of the compassion shown.
The Large Opening referred to was popular in Song times and its variations were analysed in detail in manuals of the time. Below is an example variation, given as favouring White. The defining move is Black 10. If Black 10 had been played at 14, it would have been the equally popular Lotus Flower Opening.
