In 2023, Ifū Publishing House released a faithful reprint of the only printed copy of Igo Hatsuyōron believed to have survived from the time of Inoue Dōsetsu Inseki (held by the Narita Buddhist Library, donated by Araki Naomi), which provides completely new insights into the author's work and world of thought. The book was revised by Kuwamoto Shinpei (桑本晋平), professional 7-dan.
In the Shūsai (1914) and Fujisawa (1982) editions, the commentaries are more important, but in the original edition of the Igo Hatsuyōron, there are titles attached. The titles and the accompanying notes in the book's appendix give a sense of the wide-ranging culture, thought and wit of Inoue Dōsetsu Inseki.
This book reproduces the atmosphere of the original edition to the best of its ability, but has been redrawn to make each page more accessible to modern readers. However, some of the stone layouts were difficult to identify due to insect infestation and other damages.
It was very important to the editor in charge to preserve the original appearance of the book for posterity, as it is very likely that the book will become even more difficult to view in the foreseeable future, due to its poor overall condition.
The original edition presents multiple problems on a single board. The diagram below shows the first four problems of the book.
This layout may have been a space-saving measure due to publishing constraints in the Edo period. However, I am sure you will agree that this layout creates a different "mood", a different "feeling", than separating the problems into individual diagrams, as in the 1982 edition of Igo Hatsuyōron by Fujisawa Hideyuki, for example.
You can access the book's webpage (in Japanese) via the following link:
圍碁發陽論 全・令和翻刻版 | イフウの商品 | 合同会社イフウ
Important note: This edition was limited to just 100 copies. You can easily imagine that most of them have already found a new owner. We have also learnt that it is difficult for the publisher to ship abroad. Potentially interested parties outside Japan are therefore unlikely to have a chance of acquiring one of the remaining copies (if any).
The book's appendix has various contents.
First is an explanation of various technical terms, mostly being the old terms used (until the mid 20th century) in place of modern terms.
This is followed by a list of explanations of the various “who to play” instructions.
E.g. a distinction is made between “White to play and get Ko” and “White to play and live with Ko”. The latter means that there are many adjacent Ko threats favouring White.
This section ends with a note that specifically says two problems (p. 42 = problem 120 and p. 71 = problem 183) are marked just “Black to play”.
The appendix does not comment on that further.
(Problem 120's solution ends with a White win by two points.)
The title of the other "Black to play" problem 183 refers to the famous "Meeting of the River Ponds" in 279 BC, having to do with the handover of a special jade piece for 15 cities, where both sides were able to maintain equality.
(The problem's solution ends with a Triple-Ko / whole-board Seki.)
Next is an explanation of the Chinese titles of various problems. Normally problem titles do offer a clue or a description of the starting position.
Most other titles in the book relate to the same Three Kingdoms period, and it was around this time that Yin-Yang first became a "thing", so maybe it was just that Dōsetsu had a fascination with that period (the Japanese Yō element in the book name being Chinese Yang, and his epilogue includes references to Yin).
The problem titles given in this new edition are interesting in that they show Dōsetsu was familiar with at least some of the Chinese classics. Maybe he got his hands on Sansa’s copy of the Xuanxuan Qijing as part of the deal for looking after Dōchi.
Next is given Dōsetsu’s epilogue in modern Japanese. In the original it was given in classical Japanese.
Finally, an editorial note is added giving the location of the original Naritasan Buddhist Library in Narita, references to some earlier editions (the Shūsai, Fujisawa and Nishino editions only) and the motivation behind the present book and the changes made (e.g. the star points in the original were marked "X" and are converted to dots here).
The appendix makes the point that nearly all the problems have s statement of “fact” in lieu of a simple “Black / White to play”, and it can be inferred that this is evidently in lieu of giving a variation diagram with the result. Given the lack of such diagrams, it would seem unlikely that the book was intended for normal publication. From the one other surviving book by Dōsetsu (= Yôshin Teiki), we can perhaps infer that it was published for his pupils, and they were expected to find the solutions themselves.
Problem 120 is a Tsumego to imagine Sima Yi's army retreating from a pursuit after Zhuge Liang's death.
The title "孔明仲達勢" ("Zhuge Liang and Sima Yi"; right above the diagram) is thought to be based on the episode "The Dead Kongming Scares Away the Living Zhongda" (might be understood as "Even after the death of a brilliant person, their formidable reputation lives on, striking fear in those still living.") of the novel "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", in which the Shu army retreated after the death of Zhuge Liang (courtesy name Kongming) during the "Battle of Wuzhang Plains" in 234 AD, and the Wei army led by Sima Yi (courtesy name Zhongda) did not chase them back.
Please note the additional remark "白ノ方ニ提ル一石有" ("White has one prisoner"; left above the diagram) concerning the single Black stone that White captured before the problem began. This confirms what we had always suspected.
"黒先" ("kuro sen"; in the centre above the diagram) is the "statement of fact" for this problem: "Black to play".
It seems to me that one of the many non-Main-Semeai variations – which are certainly very difficult to find without the support of Artificial Intelligence (here: KataGo utilising Karl Desfontaines' network specially trained on problem 120) – is the solution to be sought for the problem:
After the death of Zhuge Liang (== the hidden capture of the single Black stone before the problem began), initially kept secret by the Shu Empire army, the Shu army retreated. When Sima Yi (== White) learnt of Zhuge Liang's death, he initially suspected a ruse of war and hesitated from pursuing the Shu army for the time being. Later, he found irrefutable evidence of Zhuge Liang's death in the abandoned camp of the Shu army, whereupon he ordered his Wei army to begin the pursuit. However, the timing was too late and the Wei army had to abandon the pursuit.
The death of Zhuge Liang ended a huge military threat to the Wei Empire - even without any major bloodshed!
==> White wins by two points ( 9f, 9f, 9f, 9f, 9f).
The variation with the Capture Variation in the Main Semeai, which had previously been regarded as the solution, could symbolise that this fate (the Wei Empire triumphs) was inevitable:
Even if only one of the two sides decided to proceed more aggressively and sacrificed a large number of their own and their opponent's warriors (== Black: the stones in the multiple Nakade and in the Tail of the Hanezeki / White: the groups in the Hanezeki), the final result would remain the same.
==> White wins by two points ( 9f).
In the case of the pursuit of the Sun army (== Main Semeai), Sima Yi must be extremely careful in view of the great reputation of the dead Zhuge Liang. Because if he overdoes it with the intention of destroying the main group of the Sun Army (== Black's large group top right), he would be in for a nasty surprise. After this ONLY ONE wrong decision, he achieved his primary goal, but would ultimately lose the battle (== Semeai Variation).
==> Black wins by four points.
However, if the Sun Kingdom should not be able to resist the temptation to actively bring about this positive outcome (== Black triggers the Semeai Variation), it will have to realise that fate cannot be cheated. Again, the final result would remain the same.
==> White wins by two points ( 9f).
The Hanezeki could symbolise the stalemate that prevailed between the two armies for a long time.
Disclaimer: Please note that the above explanations are my personal interpretation. I do not claim to be a profound connoisseur of East Asian culture and thought.
Did Dōsetsu know the true outcome of problem 120 for certain?
We will probably never know. Whether anyone has proven that there is a good chance of knowing the true outcome is irrelevant to the answer to this question.
Even if this were not the case, the material was primarily intended for students at a very high level (like Dōchi), so this would not be a shortcoming. Well, there's probably nothing better he could have given them to chew on. He will have known for sure that one set of teeth would not be enough to solve this problem.