The 9 Pin Zhi (Chinese: 九品制) was an ancient Chinese ranking system for the game of Go, derived from the 3rd-century book Classic of Arts by Handan Chun. The system was formally introduced under the weichi Zhouyi ("Ministry of Go"), founded in southern China during the Song dynasty and considered the first official organisation dedicated to the game in Chinese history; its list of nine ranks in the commonly cited form is recorded in the twelfth chapter of the Qijing Shisanpian ("Classic of Go in Thirteen Chapters"), an important Go text written in 1050. Now, in Go there are nine levels:
The first is called Entering the Divine () The second is called Sitting Illumination () The third is called Complete in Form () The fourth is called Penetrating the Subtle () The fifth is called Applying Wisdom () The sixth is called Small Cleverness () The seventh is called Contending by Force () The eighth is called Seeming Foolish () The ninth is called Keeping to Clumsiness ()
The rest fall outside the nine ranks. This system is loosely based on the Nine-rank system ( or ), used at the imperial court to rank the importance of officials.Classic of ArtsSensei's Library: Qijing Shisanpian"The Prosperous and Reasons of Go in Wei, Jin, Northern and Southern Dynasties". "9 Degrees System and Grades: The Tradition and Advancement of Culture—The Thinking on the Defects of Wushu and Wei-chi's Adoption of Japan's Dan System of Gvading on Wuji" References
External links 围棋知识之围棋九品制