Paduk, or go, is one of the folk sports much liked by the Korean people.
Reflected in paduk is the ancients’ outlook on the universe that “the sky is round and the earth is square”.
Its flat square board meant the earth, its four sides four seasons, the 361 intersecting points of vertical and horizontal lines one year and the round black and white stones the round universe, day and night.
Ancestors said that “Janggi (Korean chess) has a thousand moves, whereas paduk has ten thousand moves”.
This tells that paduk is innumerable in moves.
And it has the playing ethics that the senior is offered to use the white stone and a weak player is allowed to make the first move.
Paduk was widely disseminated in the middle ages, following the ancient times, and had a profound influence on other countries.
According to historical records of foreign countries, people of Koguryo (277 BC-AD 668), Paekje (late 1st century BC-AD 660) and Silla (early 1st century-935) liked to play the sport very much.
According to History of Koryo Dynasty published in 1451,excellentpaduk players were called kuksu, or paduk master, in Koryo and they played paduk matches even abroad in the mid-13th century.
Many stories and verses related to the sportare found in such old books as Yongjaechonghwa (late 15th century) and Ojuyonmunjangjonsango (mid-19th century) which werepublished in the period of the feudal Joson dynasty (1392-1910).
There is also a record showing that Ri Sun Sin (1545-1598), a patriotic admiral during the Imjin Patriotic War (1592-1598), played paduk at his leisure on battlefields.
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