Formerly there was a great beauty

A puzzle from the posthumous manuscript of Pan Dingsi of the Wu county, edited and commented upon by Xie Xiaxun of Pingyang county. The shape of the puzzle indeed looks like a sword, so the title of the composition was named "Lady Gong Sun's Sword Dance".

But who was Lady Gong Sun? Du Fu, a famous poet of the Tang Dynasty, had written a poem about her, the first two lines, when we translated into English, read as follow:

"Formerly there was a great beauty from the family of Gong Sun,
When she displayed her sword's dance everyone was deeply moved..










The game, after excellent moves on both sides, like the Sword's dance of Lady Gong Sun, comes the peace and friendly smile.