Unillustrated Mottoes
The mottoes very often are quotations from the Chinese classics or phrases that have become, via the religions of Zen or Daoism, part of the repertoire of martial artists. Typical of the latter are phrases such as "no mind" which exhort the player to achieve a state of total concentration rather in the way that a western sportsman tries to achieve "focus".
ONKO CHISHIN - Hashimoto Utaro
Cherish the old to know the new. A phrase from the Analects of Confucius (2/11).
IGO O SEKAI NI - Iwamoto Kaoru
Go to the world. Iwamoto, through setting up a foundation with his own money, established go centres in London, Amsterdam, New York and Sao Paulo.
JOUSHIN - Takemiya Masaki
Purifying the spirit, as in making ready to die in battle.
WAKOU - Kato Masao
Soft light. The implication is keeping one's wisdom and virtues concealed from public gaze.
MUGA - Rin Kaiho
The original meaning is self-effacement or lack of egoism, as in the Analects of Confucius. But the phrase has come to have another meaning, identical to mushin or no mind (= a state of total concentration). No doubt this is the meaning intended here.
SEKISHIN - Otake Hideo
Stone mind. The implication is to reach a state like a heart inside a stone.
SOSHIN - Cho Chikun
Bare mind. That is, one's original, pure mind, unencumbered by desires or the cares of the world.
SENSHIN - Otake Hideo
Cleansing the mind (of worldly cares).
SEIKYO - Ishida Yoshio
Pure and empty (= lacking desires. This is a widely used phrase in old Chinese literature.
MUMON - Ishida Yoshio
No entrances. A reference to the Daoist classic, the Sayings of Zhuang Zi (the World of Men chapter). He said that "where there are no gateways there is no poisoning." His meaning was that if an entrance exists, we are tempted to enter and so desires are created. It is better simply to entrust oneself to the past and the future through "no action".
TAIDOU MUMON - Fujisawa Hideyuki
The Great Way [the Dao] - no entrances. Same as above.
TENDOU - Kobayashi Koichi
Providence, the Way of Heaven. That is, simply trust to it.
TENKUU - Kobayashi Satoru
The firmament. This was his first ever fan, brushed to celebrate winning the Kisei in 1995. His intended meaning is not clear, but probably it includes at least a hint at the well-known phrase tenkuu kaikatsu - magnanimous and broadminded as the wide sky and as the vast sea.
UCHUURYUU - Takemiya Masaki
Cosmic style. This needs no explanation for a go player.
SHISOU - Takemiya Masaki
Ultimate satisfaction.
SEIITSU - Ishida Yoshio
Innocent and unworldly.
YUUGEN - Sakata Eio
Quiet beauty, elegant simplicity, subtle and profound. This is the caviar among words in Japanese and Chinese - so many delicate nuances, including also deep and far, and the silence of the mountains. The most famous playing room in the Nihon Ki-in is called the Yugen Room.
CHICHI - Rin Kaiho
Ultimate wisdom. There are many overtones to this because it is a concept discussed at length in the Great Learning (especially Chapter 5). The main idea is "knowing the root is the perfecting of knowledge" but another implicit idea is knowing when to stop.
SEIFUU - Otake Hideo
Cool breeze. A venerable phrase that goes back to the Book of Odes beloved of Confucius. The implication, of course, is "breath of fresh air." This phrase was also chosen by the group of young Chinese pros who set up their own internet go server, Qingfeng.
IBUN KAIYUU - Go Seigen
Through learning, meeting friends. A phrase from the Analects of Confucius (12/33), though it is said by a disciple, Zeng Zi.. The word for learning (bun, or wen in Chinese) is loaded with meaning. Confucius defines it earlier in the Analects (5/14) and it is meant to cover wisdom, culture, sophistication and other virtues associated with the superior man who would rule or minister to others. Go was so fond of this phrase that he used it as the title of his autobiography.
ANZEN TO-SHITE HI AKIRAKA - Go Seigen
Dark, yet clear as day. This is from the Confucian Doctrine of the Golden Mean, and it is a metaphorical description of the perfect gentleman: dark on the surface, bright inside: "a gentleman has no adornment outside but is cultivated inside."
KOUUN RYUUSUI - Fujisawa Hideyuki
Moving clouds and flowing water. The true meaning is "a cheerful heart" - moving freely just like Nature.
GENMYOU - Kobayashi Koichi
Unknowable marvels or reconditeness, but the connotation is what is important here - the phrase is associated with a quiet mind.
RYUU UN - Kato Masao
Dragon and clouds, or just clouds (dragons being associated in Chinese mythology with rain). The full significance if the phrase here in unclear.
GOUKOTSU KYOSHIN - Sakata Eio
Stiffened bones, empty mind. The first part of the phrase, at least on its own, is often seen as somewhat unflattering, meaning the person is unbending, proud, independent. It was so used of the Chinese poet Li Bai. But in the complete phrase it appears to mean no more than King Henry's "stiffen the sinews".
RYUUSUI SAKI O ARASOWAZU - Takagawa Kaku
Flowing water does not fight with what lies ahead. A Daoist thought that also expresses an ideal go style.
CHOUSHIN SEIRYO - Iwamoto Kaoru
Clearing the mind, intricate thoughts. The idea is clearing one's head.
GAIFUU - Aragaki Takeshi
Triumphal wind. The occasion for the fan with this motto was Aragaki's promotion to 9-dan in 1994 - he was the first player from Okinawa to reach that grade. The phrase goes back to the Book of Odes where it signifies a southern wind, that is Aragaki blowing in from Okinawa in the south to Tokyo in the north.
The following mottoes are from Korean players:
MANG U TAM SU - Cho Nam-ch'eol
Forget worries, hand talk. These two phrases are synonyms for go. The former is the opening of the poem which gave the title to the 12th century Chinese go manual Carefree and Innocent Pastime, featured elsewhere on this site. Hand talk is a whimsical name attributed to Zhi Dun in the fourth century. It was a period when Cultured Conversation (qing dan) was esteemed, and in the Tales of the World by Liu Yiqing (403-444) it says "Wang Zhonglang regarded go as 'sitting in reclusion" and Zhi Gong regarded go as 'talking with the hands'". The former phrase is perhaps best known via Japanese (zain) from the famous history compendium Zain Danso.
U IL SIN - Yu Ch'ang-hyeok
Further daily renewal. The exhortation for daily renewal is incredibly popular in the Far East, and goes back at least to the Yi Jing or Book of Changes. But the source that most people have in mind, as in this case, is the Confucian classic, the Great Learning ("On the bathing-tub of Tang is engraved: If daily renewal is possible, renew day by day. And further renew each day"). Yet it is curious that such a well-loved phrase should have found its place there from the ablutions of a king of the Shang Dynasty. It does not say what is meant to be renewed (and one modern scholar inclines to the view that it refers to cleaning the bath!), but there is no doubt that people who quote it mean that they should try to renew themselves, doing their utmost by starting afresh each day, avoiding complacency; it is not really "making oneself a better person by learning a little more each day" - that is more of a western idea).
SEONG EUI - Yi Ch'ang-ho
Sincere thoughts or intent. Again this is discussed in the Great Learning, although it is a common enough phrase in its own right. In modern terms it just means "focus."
