There were many well-known players during the Song, Ming and Qing dynasties. The anthology Carefree by Li Yimin collected the most important papers and manuals on weiqi in China during ancient times, such as the "13 Pieces onweiqi" and the "Weiqi Manual" that Sun Ce and Lu Fan had used in the Three Kingdoms (220-280 A.D.). Currently, the latter is the oldest manual on weiqi in the world.
In the late Qing Dynasty, the skill level of weiqi gradually diminished in China with the country's decline. Conversely, Japan's weiqi was raised to a high level after the Meiji Reformation (1868), greatly surpassing China, creators of the game. In1920s and 1930s, a top Japanese player went so far as to yield three moves to a top Chinese player!
Weiqi was revived in China after the foundation of the People's Republic of China in 1949. Thanks to Premier Zhou Enlai's concern, the first weiqi group-the Beijing Weiqi Institute-was set up in 1952.
The national weiqi tournaments have been held since 1956. In 1962 the Weigi Association of the P.R.C. was set up and Vice-Premier Chen Yi became the first honorary chairman. After that time, 14 provinces and cities formed board game associations. In the 1970s there were seven locations set aside for weiqi in Chengdu, Sichuan Province and at least 2,000 people took part in the game every day.
