Go, then called Weiqi, arose in China around 4,000 years ago. The game is far more complex than it seems on the surface. Players take turns placing stones on a grid of 19-by-19 squares with the double goals of capturing enemy tokens and controlling the largest amount of territory.
围棋，古称弈，起源于约四千年前的中国。这项棋盘游戏表面看似简单，实则深奥复杂。棋手们轮流在19×19的格子棋盘上落子，目标是吃掉对方的棋子并占领最大的地盘。
Although simple in its rules, the size of the board coupled with the intricacies of capturing and recapturing territory and stones creates a game of great complexity, closer in spirit to an entire military campaign filled with local battles rather than the single battle represented in chess.
虽然规则简单，但棋盘的广阔和争夺地盘、提子的复杂性使得围棋成为一项极其复杂的游戏，其精神内涵更接近于包含多个局部战斗的全面军事行动，而非国际象棋中所呈现的单一战斗。
It is said that Weiqi was first used as a fortune-telling device, or perhaps invented by Emperor Yao in hopes of reforming his undisciplined son. Whatever its true origins, Weiqi had become a main element of Chinese culture by the sixth century B.C. E. Later, the game was included as one of the four arts Chinese scholar gentlemen were required to master. In addition to Weiqi, ambitious academics had to learn Chinese calligraphy and painting, as well as how to play the guqin.
相传围棋最初是作为占卜工具使用的，或者是帝尧为了教育他不守规矩的儿子而发明的。无论其真正的起源如何，到了公元前六世纪，围棋已经成为中国文化的一个主要元素。后来，围棋被列为中国文人四艺之一，学者们除了要学习围棋，还必须掌握中国书法、绘画以及古琴的演奏。
With its unique style and rich cultural history, Weiqi has been attracting many fans. And it is described as involving a higher degree of sophistication than any of the world’s great board games, with the possible exception of chess.
凭借其独特的风格和丰富的文化历史，围棋吸引着众多爱好者。它被认为比其他任何世界级棋盘游戏都更加复杂巧妙，可能只有国际象棋能与之媲美。
