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Yunzi stone age
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Author:  Inkwolf [ Fri Jan 13, 2012 1:59 pm ]
Post subject:  Yunzi stone age
Does anyone know what year they started making the white Yunzi stones actually white?

I bought an old set online (can't seem to resist collecting) in grass woven bowls with an old-looking vinyl carrying case (60's or 70's-ish, maybe) and a heavy cloth 'board', but the white stones are a sort of duck-egg color. I know they came up with a formula to make them whiter, but none of the sites that mention it give a year when the whiter whites started being made.

Here's the set I bought:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/290653673936?ss ... 1423.l2649

If anyone wants to try translating the Chinese characters on the bag, I can scan them in. :)
Author:  mohsart [ Fri Jan 13, 2012 2:52 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Yunzi stone age
Hard to tell from the pictures if they differ from modern yunzi IMO.
Yunzi are 1. not white, if you hold them to a light you'll see that they are actually green, and 2. even if they look white, it's not like glass stones; they look kind of "milky", much like ing-stones. Perhaps a bit transparent (not so that you can see through them, but maybe 1-2 mm into them).

/Mats
Author:  Redbeard [ Fri Jan 13, 2012 3:39 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Yunzi stone age
Inkwolf wrote:
Here's the set I bought:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/290653673936?ss ... 1423.l2649

Ha! I was the other bidder on that set. ;)

I was thinking the set was late 80's or 90's due to the type of vinyl on the case and the cloth board. Modern Yunzi's sometime come with a plastic folding board, so there is some age to them but the Yunzi recipe wasn't re-introduced until the early '70's.

I would be very curious as to what the characters on the bag say, especially since it does not have the logo shown on newer cases.
Image.
Author:  illluck [ Fri Jan 13, 2012 4:26 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Yunzi stone age
The four large characters are "Yunan Weiqi". The top left is something about the company being a specially-protected corporation for a imitation prevention/quality reward program, the top right is something about the stones being a designated stone for a national tournament (or perhaps all national competitions).
Author:  Inkwolf [ Fri Jan 13, 2012 6:04 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Yunzi stone age
Mohsart, here's a picture comparing my modern, white-as-Casper's-butt yunzi stone with the old-style yellowish one.
Attachment:
yunzi.jpg
yunzi.jpg [ 25.42 KiB | Viewed 5930 times ]


I know they lost the yunzi formula entirely, and rediscovered it in the 60's or 70's, but at some point they also discovered a way to make them whiter. I'm just wondering when, since this set was clearly made before that. (They do still sell greenish ones, but they call those'jade luster' stones and they are intentionally colored green, I think. It's the black ones that look green with a light behind them.)

Redbeard, sorry for outbidding you! I poke around on Ebay sometimes, looking at various Go sets, and had never seen one quite like this before. I really liked the idea of the cloth board in a portable set. Better luck next time.

Thanks for the translation, Illuck! :) It may not be the same bag, but the characters seem to be pretty much the same, The writing on the cloth board is probably pretty much the same thing.

Attachments:
yunzi3.jpg
yunzi3.jpg [ 102.94 KiB | Viewed 5930 times ]
Author:  Redbeard [ Fri Jan 13, 2012 8:32 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Yunzi stone age
Inkwolf wrote:
Redbeard, sorry for outbidding you! I poke around on Ebay sometimes, looking at various Go sets, and had never seen one quite like this before. I really liked the idea of the cloth board in a portable set. Better luck next time.

No worries. I do the same as you and was intrigued by the set. When your bid came in I decided to let it go. I mostly wanted to get it to post pictures here and find out how old it really was. Since you are doing that we both win.

I am curious about what it says on the cloth board.
Author:  illluck [ Fri Jan 13, 2012 8:48 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Yunzi stone age
It's "product of China Yunan Weiqi (Go stones) factory".
Author:  Inkwolf [ Wed Jan 18, 2012 11:04 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Yunzi stone age
Better pictures of it here:
http://inkwolf-at-last.livejournal.com/44912.html

I was hoping to e-mail the Yunan Weiqi Factory, but their Contact Us page doesn't work.
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