Knowledge

The Chess Master

Source 📝

429: 22: 279:
boards in front of him (effectively playing blind), and beats most of them easily. The final match ends in a draw, with Wang Yisheng having played against an old man who is too fragile to leave the house, and had to send his moves via messenger. Wang Yisheng bursts into tears after the match, lamenting his dead mother. The old man leaves his house to praise him personally.
278:
Later, there is a local festival with a xiangqi tournament. The narrator, Legballs, and their friends all attend. Wang Yisheng arrives too late to enter the official tournament, but he challenges the winners to an unofficial match after it is over. He ends up playing nine people at once without any
266:
player Wang Yisheng are two young intellectuals among many sent to work on farms in the mountains. During the train ride to the mountains, Wang and his friend talk about how he learned to play xiangqi and how he evolved his current strategy. Wang tells his friend that his family was very poor, and
128: 271:, the old man taught Wang everything he knew about xiangqi. Wang also tells his friend about how his mother made him a set out of discarded toothbrush handles before she died because she knew how much he loved the game. The two friends then head to different farms. 274:
A couple of months later, Wang Yisheng visits the narrator in the mountains. One of the narrator's friends at the farm, Legballs, happens to be a good xiangqi player. Legballs is very impressed with Wang's ability, and the two become good friends.
267:
his mother disapproved of his habit. However, Wang was very devoted to xiangqi. One day, while gathering garbage to sell, Wang met an old xiangqi master. Using the principles of
325: 287:"The Chess Master" and Ah Cheng's other novellas were popular with many sectors of Chinese society, and well regarded by critics and scholars. 515: 476: 237:. Written from the point of view of an unnamed narrator, it describes the titular character, Wang Yisheng, and what drives him to play 86: 58: 495: 65: 105: 39: 446: 259: 230: 72: 469: 43: 54: 505: 300: 295:
The novella has been translated into English twice. One translation is a bilingual edition translated by
530: 520: 462: 304: 32: 79: 450: 510: 500: 440: 8: 234: 317: 246: 525: 202: 371:. Translated by McDougall, Bonnie S. New Directions Publishing. pp. 187–188. 436: 489: 428: 296: 163: 415:]. Translated by McDougall, Bonnie S. New Directions Publishing. 21: 226: 141: 393:]. Translated by Jenner, W.J.F. The Chinese University Press. 263: 238: 127: 262:
of the late 1960s and early 1970s. The unnamed narrator and the
268: 210: 225:'Chess King'), is a 1984 novella by Chinese writer 303:; the other is by Bonnie S. McDougall and published by 449:. Further suggestions might be found on the article's 346:
The first English translation was bylined "A Cheng".
132:
cover of the 2005 English-Chinese bilingual edition
46:. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. 487: 470: 229:. It features characters who are part of the 151: 244:In 1988, it was adapted into a film called 220: 477: 463: 258:The story takes place in China during the 126: 106:Learn how and when to remove this message 447:See guidelines for writing about novels 290: 488: 435:This article about a 1980s novel is a 381: 423: 239:xiangqi, also known as Chinese chess 44:adding citations to reliable sources 15: 13: 14: 542: 516:Chinese novels adapted into films 403: 366: 427: 260:Down to the Countryside Movement 231:Down to the Countryside Movement 20: 31:needs additional citations for 397: 375: 360: 340: 310: 215: 1: 353: 439:. You can help Knowledge by 301:The Chinese University Press 282: 7: 496:20th-century Chinese novels 233:, which occurred after the 10: 547: 422: 305:New Directions Publishing 299:and published in 2005 by 206: 186: 178: 170: 159: 152: 147: 137: 125: 120: 408: 386: 333: 329:, a 1991 Hong Kong film 253: 321:, a 1988 Chinese film 291:English translations 40:improve this article 506:Novels set in China 235:Cultural Revolution 55:"The Chess Master" 531:1980s novel stubs 521:Works by Ah Cheng 458: 457: 413:The King of Chess 382:Cheng, A (2005). 369:The King of Trees 223: 194: 193: 116: 115: 108: 90: 538: 479: 472: 465: 431: 424: 417: 416: 401: 395: 394: 391:The Chess Master 379: 373: 372: 364: 347: 344: 224: 221: 217: 208: 198:The Chess Master 187:Publication date 155: 154: 130: 121:The Chess Master 118: 117: 111: 104: 100: 97: 91: 89: 48: 24: 16: 546: 545: 541: 540: 539: 537: 536: 535: 486: 485: 484: 483: 421: 420: 410: 402: 398: 388: 380: 376: 365: 361: 356: 351: 350: 345: 341: 336: 313: 293: 285: 256: 133: 112: 101: 95: 92: 49: 47: 37: 25: 12: 11: 5: 544: 534: 533: 528: 523: 518: 513: 508: 503: 498: 482: 481: 474: 467: 459: 456: 455: 432: 419: 418: 396: 374: 358: 357: 355: 352: 349: 348: 338: 337: 335: 332: 331: 330: 322: 312: 309: 292: 289: 284: 281: 255: 252: 192: 191: 188: 184: 183: 180: 176: 175: 172: 168: 167: 161: 157: 156: 149: 148:Original title 145: 144: 139: 135: 134: 131: 123: 122: 114: 113: 96:September 2015 28: 26: 19: 9: 6: 4: 3: 2: 543: 532: 529: 527: 524: 522: 519: 517: 514: 512: 509: 507: 504: 502: 499: 497: 494: 493: 491: 480: 475: 473: 468: 466: 461: 460: 454: 452: 448: 444: 442: 438: 433: 430: 426: 425: 414: 407: 400: 392: 385: 378: 370: 363: 359: 343: 339: 328: 327: 326:King of Chess 323: 320: 319: 315: 314: 308: 306: 302: 298: 297:W.J.F. Jenner 288: 280: 276: 272: 270: 265: 261: 251: 249: 248: 242: 240: 236: 232: 228: 218: 212: 204: 200: 199: 189: 185: 181: 177: 173: 169: 165: 164:W.J.F. Jenner 162: 158: 150: 146: 143: 140: 136: 129: 124: 119: 110: 107: 99: 88: 85: 81: 78: 74: 71: 67: 64: 60: 57: –  56: 52: 51:Find sources: 45: 41: 35: 34: 29:This article 27: 23: 18: 17: 445: 441:expanding it 434: 412: 405: 399: 390: 383: 377: 368: 362: 342: 324: 316: 294: 286: 277: 273: 257: 245: 243: 214: 197: 196: 195: 102: 93: 83: 76: 69: 62: 50: 38:Please help 33:verification 30: 511:Chess books 501:1984 novels 404:Cheng, Ah. 367:Cheng, Ah. 311:Adaptations 490:Categories 354:References 318:Chess King 247:Chess King 160:Translator 66:newspapers 451:talk page 283:Reception 153:棋王 Qíwáng 227:Ah Cheng 179:Language 142:Ah Cheng 526:Xiangqi 264:xiangqi 203:Chinese 182:Chinese 171:Country 80:scholar 406:Qíwáng 384:Qíwáng 269:Daoism 216:Qíwáng 213:: 211:pinyin 205:: 166:(2005) 138:Author 82:  75:  68:  61:  53:  411:[ 389:[ 334:Notes 174:China 87:JSTOR 73:books 437:stub 254:Plot 222:lit. 190:1984 59:news 387:棋王ー 42:by 492:: 409:棋王 307:. 250:. 241:. 219:; 209:; 207:棋王 478:e 471:t 464:v 453:. 443:. 201:( 109:) 103:( 98:) 94:( 84:· 77:· 70:· 63:· 36:.

Index


verification
improve this article
adding citations to reliable sources
"The Chess Master"
news
newspapers
books
scholar
JSTOR
Learn how and when to remove this message

Ah Cheng
W.J.F. Jenner
Chinese
pinyin
Ah Cheng
Down to the Countryside Movement
Cultural Revolution
xiangqi, also known as Chinese chess
Chess King
Down to the Countryside Movement
xiangqi
Daoism
W.J.F. Jenner
The Chinese University Press
New Directions Publishing
Chess King
King of Chess
Stub icon

Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.