As far as I know, selling dan certificates in Asia does not apply to professional ranks (which was the previous topic in my understanding, as Missingham is a professional player).
On the (off-)topic of how amateurs are ranked in Asia vs the West: you said that Asian amateurs are awarded ranks by their understanding of the game (not by results in competition). So when an amateur wants to buy a dan certificate in Asia, do they have to pass some exam to prove their understanding of the game?
The issuing of amateur rank certificate is business although formally there are some qualifications for it Rank Diploma at Sensei's Library
But, of course, on the original topic it is an open question whether the term āthe top female proā refers to the person with the highest professional rank or the person with the best tournament record 
That statement gave me an impression that you feel the Asian system of ranking amateurs is superiorā¦
ā¦, but if in practice the Asian system leads to that (just pay the right person enough money to pass), I donāt feel itās superior at all. Iād expect that over time, it just leads to a huge mess in amateur ranks and they wonāt mean much anymore.
I much prefer an unbiased (preferrably automated) service based on competition results, that go associations provide to all their members without any additional costs for promotion.
When money gets involved in promotions, it muddies the waters by corrupting the system. So if a go association needs more money, IMO they should increase the subscription fee instead of trying to source some extra income from shady/detrimental practices.
The Western and Asian amateur rank systems are just different and have different aims. The Western system is clearly made for tournaments, but I can see the rationale for the Asian system despite the obvious abuses.
In the Old Chinese system the moral qualities of the players are also taken into consideration while the current amateur system is more the result of an effort to popularize Go after the fall of the Shogunate in Japan.
The purpose of the modern Asian amateur system is to get people to play Go and show that they have mastered one of the traditional essential arts. The purpose is not necessarily that people should play in amateur tournaments. And to a certain degree I would say that the Asian system is more suited to popularize Go since it is easier to become Shodan and prove that you have mastered the basics of Go (i.e., Shodan becomes a realistic incentive to study and improve).
Concerning the pro ranks, I would guess that the traditional way to settle the question of who is number one would be to let the highest ranked player play a ten game match against the player with the best current tournament record.
ā¦ when the āTaipeiā comments arenāt the spiciest part of the thread 
I heard about specificd in Japan, but Japan is not Asia.
In China you have a regular schedule of tournaments (by trimesters) which donāt involve money for what I know. Ranks are issued from your results (with diploma)
I donāt see that much differences between there and here, itās still tournaments which determine your level, not an approximative dĆ©termination by some expertise.
Okay, the modern Chinese system is aimed at producing pros who can beat the Japanese pros 
I guess it does depend on whether you want to put more more emphasis on go as a traditional art (more subjective mind set) versus go as a contemporary mind sport (more objective mind set).
Western go players and associations tend to put more emphasis on go as a contemporary mind sport (like chess) than as a traditional art (like calligraphy).
As I took part like 20 years ago in it, I dunno what you call āmodernā.
And competition with Japanese is bit off topic I am talking about the amateur players
Do they still have in China that it helps you getting admitted to the top universities, if you have achieved a 5 dan (?) Go certificate before applying to the uni?
I think this is finished since a few years ago (some school teachers told me)
From where do you get this direction? Western promoting more a sport as an art?
Never read about this, even at times I find the reverse presentation very often to the public.
As far as Iām aware, the EGF and European go associations focus mostly on tournaments and competitions. When I visit a go tournament, I may see 1 or 2 people sporting a fan with a go proverb written on it in kanji, and perhaps someone might wear a kimono during the opening ceremony, but thatās about the only references to traditional Asian (mainly Japanese) culture Iāve noticed.
IME the traditional art aspect of go is not much used here, other than as an entry to promote go on events/festivals that have some link to traditional Asian culture. And perhaps some go players have a traditional Asian painting (replica) somewhere in their house.
Lee Sedol said in an interview that it all changed after AlphaGo. When he learned Go it was an art but the new pros after AlphaGo approach it only as a mindsport.
I understand your feeling, itās biased because EGF is in fact completely oriented into the sport/competition side. When people register to EGF they do it because they want to play tournaments and in fact many donāt care and donāt register. Thatās a reality but I donāt think this is the reality of local go structures and their participants.
You donāt have to carry a fan or a dress to show you are more concerned by the art side as by the competitive side anyway. Many of my friends like to play go in a general art thinking. Which may btw include some tournaments at time, nothing wrong about it. For a lot of players ranking by tournaments is a nice return sign of your progress, not a sign that you are the strongest between others.
Perhaps it also matters in which subculture/bubble you are with your go friends.
Most go players I know are more into science and maths in their daily lives than they are into culture and art and I think they tend to be more interested in the mind sport aspect and/or the mathematical aspect of go.
But indeed there are also quite a few go players who are themselves artists (mostly musicians?), or linguists, or historians etc. They may have more interest in the cultural and historical aspects of go.
And some may be especially interested in the mental/contemplative aspects of playing go, as a form of meditation.
Or any combination of the above.
Iād say that the mind sport view dominates in my bubble, but perhaps that is because my bubble consists mostly of other dan players who also frequent tournaments.
I would return to the view of the Chinese Weiqi world as I stayed there. If there is a difference itās because parents know weiqi as a part of the culture. Putting aside the bias mentioned about uni access before, parents like their children to practice weiqi not to be pro or such competitive but for the quality of the people it is building. Those children donāt wear weiqi dress, they may hold a fan like a western kid would. Children are similar everywhere they will play quick and competitive in some way. But they learn to be less aggressive or passive, they learn to control jealousy and hatress etcā¦ If parents of our children were all having some cultural knowledge on go then both population of children will feel very similar.
I donāt think Iāve ever seen weiqi dress. What does it look like?
