棋经十三篇 (Wéiqí Classic in Thirteen Chapters) written nearly one thousand years ago enumerated the grades of Wéiqí. Unsurprisingly there are nine of them. Each grade is represented by two characters. I don’t know any Chinese so the best I can do is offer several interpretations of their meaning as translated by (A) John Fairbairn (from his fantastic edition of The Gateway to All Marvels, aka The Profound and Mysterious, aka XuanXuanQijing), (B) an old post on rec.games.go and (C) a published paper. We start with 9 dan and proceed to the lower ranks:

入神 (rushen)

(A) Absorbed in the game blissfully unaware.

(B) Oblivious of self.

(C) Being in the spirit.

坐照 (zuozhao)

(A) Able to sit and understand all around.

(B) Crystal clear.

(C) Seated in enlightenment.

具体 (juti)

(A) Having a body with no weak points.

(B) Encyclopedic.

(C) Concreteness.

通幽 (tongyou)

(A) Having a clear understanding of the myseries.

(B) Dawn.

(C) Understanding changes.

用智 (yongzhi)

(A) Using resourcefulness.

(B) Battle of wits.

(C) Applying wisdom.

小巧 (xiaoqiao)

(A) Having ingenious ways of playing.

(B) Shrewd.

(C) Ability.

斗力 (douli)

(A) Fighting strength.

(B) Battle of strength.

(C) Strength.

若愚 (ruoyu)

(A) Playing as if stupid.

(B) Appearing dull.

(C) Being quite inept.

守拙 (shouzhou)

(A) Defending clumsily.

(B) Clumsy but self knowledge.

(C) Being truly stupid.

As with any translation likely all of these have problems, especially when, if I’m understanding correctly, these grades are actually still used on diplomas. The last two in particular, I’m sure, probably have more generous translations.

Still it humorously puts into perspective how vast the the ability gap is even after achieving shodan. This was driven home to me when attending the US Go Congress. If you were 1 kyu or 1 dan you were pretty much exactly in the middle of the capability present at the Congress!

I look forward to “defending clumsily” one day!