Ing Chang-ki

Ing Chang-ki (; 23 October 1917 – 27 August 1997) was a Taiwanese banker, industrialist, and promoter of Go. Born in Cixi County, Zhejiang, he worked in banking in Shanghai and later in Taiwan, where he served at the Bank of Taiwan before entering business in the 1960s. In Go, he founded the Ing Chang-ki Weichi Educational Foundation, promoted the Ing rules, and established the Ing Cup, one of the major international professional Go tournaments.

He encouraged the use of the spelling "Goe" in English-language contexts in an attempt to distinguish the game from the English verb "go". He was also associated with the promotion of digital game clocks for Go, including devices designed to support byoyomi and per-move time controls.

Biography Ing was born on 23 October 1917 in Cicheng, then in Cixi County, Zhejiang. Around 1932, because of family poverty, he left Cihu Commercial School and went to Shanghai, where he became an apprentice at Tongyuan Bank and began his banking career.

He later worked for the Fujian Provincial Bank. During the Second Sino-Japanese War, he moved with the bank through several wartime locations, including Jiangxi, Hunan, Guizhou, and Chongqing. After the war, he moved to Taiwan and worked for the Bank of Taiwan for about eighteen years.

In the early 1960s, Ing resigned from banking and entered business. Reports have associated him with the founding, co-founding, takeover, or management of several companies, including Huaxia Plastics, Reward Wool, Cathay Chemical Works, Yihua Food, Guohua Marine Enterprise, International Bills Finance Corporation, and INKO in the United States.

Ing was also active in Go promotion. In 1983, he formally established the Ing Chang-ki Weichi Educational Foundation, and in 1984 he organized the first World Youth Go Championship. In 1988, he founded the Ing Cup, with a champion's prize of US$400,000.

On 23 October 1996, the Shanghai Ing Chang-ki Weichi Educational Foundation was established with a donation of RMB 160 million from Ing, and construction of the Shanghai Ing Chang-ki Weiqi School also began. Ing died in Taipei on 27 August 1997. The Ing Cup, founded in 1988, became his best-known Go project. The tournament is held every four years and has a champion's prize of US$400,000.

In addition to professional events, Ing supported other Go competitions. Hong Kong's Wen Wei Po reported that the "Ing Cup" Chinese University Go Tournament was initiated and funded by Ing in 1991. The European Go Federation stated in an obituary that Ing's donations of Ing-style boards, stones, and clocks helped introduce the Ing rules into European tournaments and supported Go communities in many European countries. The American Go Association has also stated that Ing's Goe Foundation supported North American Go, the World Youth Go Championship, the North American Ing Masters, the Long Game Cup, and the American Collegiate Go Association.

After Ing's death, his son Ing Ming-hao continued the family's Go activities, including the continuation of the Ing Cup and the creation or support of the Chang-ki Cup, the Chen Yi Cup, and the annual Chinese Go awards ceremony. Wen Wei Po reported in 2016 that, according to Ing Ming-hao, Ing Chang-ki had instructed during his illness that the Ing Cup "must continue".

Until 2000, Ing also sponsored a tournament and substantial prize for computer Go programs known as the Ing Prize.

Philanthropy in Ningbo Ing contributed to education, medical, and business projects in his ancestral home region of Ningbo. According to Ningbo Daily, he helped build or rebuild Zhongcheng Primary School, Changqi Kindergarten, Cihu Middle School, and Baoli Hospital, with total donations reaching large sums. He also established Reward (Ningbo) Wool Industry Company and a modern building materials company in Ningbo. Another report stated that Ing Ming-hao, representing the Ing family, donated RMB 15.5 million to rebuild Cihu Middle School and RMB 4.5 million to build Changqi Kindergarten, and that the Ing father and son later established the Xingyao scholarship and aid fund.

Ing's wife was Tang Ping-chen. Tang was born in Shanghai on 15 March 1915 and worked as a physical education teacher at Zhongcheng Primary School in Cicheng in 1934. She became engaged to Ing in December 1936, left teaching in early 1938, and went to Fujian, where the couple formally married. In 2024, the Chinese Weiqi Association also reported that Ing Rou-er, chairwoman of the Taipei Ing Chang-ki Weichi Educational Foundation, attended events related to the tenth Ing Cup semifinal in Cicheng.

Public reports have mentioned descendants of Ing Ming-hao, but no reliable public sources have been found confirming their names, positions, or participation in the Ing family's Go activities.