The aesthetic principle behind this photo, perhaps unintentionally, mirrors the function that Weiqi stones serve on their game board. Housed in larger lacquerware containers, they seem to be constructed to make the same noise they do when touching the finished boards with which they are played on.

Art of Contest‘s section on Weiqi is interesting as it cleanly demonstrates that Weiqi is as much an aesthetically principled game as it is one of strategy and rules. While most games make a point to utilize an aesthetic, Weiqi seems to be constructed specifically for that aesthetic in mind, the strategy becoming a secondary factor to the act of playing and experiencing it.

It’s an alien thing to see a board game designed specifically around flavortext, but it’s clear that this flavortext means a lot to the people playing it.