 Yunzi ( 云子 ) refer to special weiqi ( 围棋 ) pieces manufactured in the Chinese province of Yunnan ( 云南 ); at various times in history they have also been termed yunbian ( 云扁 ) and yunyaozi ( 云窑子 ). Due to the aesthetic emphasis present in weiqi, yunzi have captured the favor of hobbyists worldwide, especially those from China, Japan, Korea, and Singapore.
Yunzi are delicately made with a jade-like lustre yet are neither brittle nor slippery. The black and white pieces each have their special qualities: the white pieces though opaque have a slight hint of yellow or green.
The production of yunzi started in the Tang dynasty ( 唐朝 ) and reached its peak in the Ming ( 明朝 ) and Qing dynasties ( 清朝 ) ; the total verifiable history of yunzi spans at least five hundred years.
Among yunzi, most famous was the yongzi ( 永子 ) manufactured by Yongchang Fu ( 永昌府, today Baoshan city in Yunnan) during the Ming dynasty. It was said that after a fire broke out in an imperial treasury, one of the keepers, who was from Yongchang Fu, discovered that melted pearls and jade had a special luster. When he returned back to his hometown, he fashioned yunzi out of the agate and amber for which Yongchang Fu was famous. Yunzi went on to be prized by the literati and were offered to the Emperor.
 Yunzi also appeared frequently in Chinese literature as the subject of a number of verses penned over the years, being mentioned in works such as Ming Yi Tong Zhi ( 明一统志 ) and Travels of Xu Xiake ( 徐霞客游记 ) , both of which attest to the superiority of the yongzi.
Today in Baoshan there are still people who have antiques dating from the Ming dynasty; among those there remain one and a half original yongzi sets.
The traditional art of making yunzi was lost during the first few years of the ChineseRepublic. After the establishment of the People's Republic of China, in 1964 General Chen Yi ( 陈毅 ) examined the situation of yunzi while inspecting Yunnan. Zhou Enlai ( 周恩来 ) also inquired about the possible reproduction of yunzi.
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