Tangram Puzzle Book


Tangram is a traditional Chinese puzzle game that consists of seven flat pieces called "tans." These seven tans are put together to form a square. The puzzle's objective is to rearrange these pieces to form a particular shape or design using all seven pieces, which may not overlap.

The seven tans consist of two large right triangles, one medium-sized right triangle, two small right triangles, one square, and one parallelogram. These pieces can be arranged in various ways to create a wide range of shapes, animals, numbers, and objects.

The image shown is a tangram puzzle and a solution book from China. The tangram puzzle is made of mother of pearl, which comes with a book of 342 Tangram solutions. 





Resources

Resource 1

p649-leuchars_web.jpg    tangram_caricature_france_1818.jpg

Image Credit

According to "The Tangram Book" by Jerry Slocum and various authors, Tangram puzzles gained widespread popularity as a puzzle game around 1800. As per their accounts, an anonymous Chinese individual who used the pseudonym Yang-Cho-Chu-Shih, meaning "Dimwitted recluse," authored a book titled "Ch'i chi'iao t'u" or "Pictures Using Seven Clever Pieces." This book contained an extensive collection of Tangram puzzle shapes and was instrumental in igniting a fervor for the game in China.

The enthusiasm for Tangram quickly spread, leading to the publication of numerous other Tangram puzzle books. Some of these publications found their way to Japan, the United States, and England, where they were translated and expanded upon. In the years 1817-18, the Tangram craze rapidly extended to France, Denmark, and various other European countries. This widespread interest in Tangram has persisted across the globe ever since.

The tangram puzzle shown in the first picture is the earliest non-Chinese tangram puzzle. It was published in 1817 in London.

The second image shows a caricature in France during the Tangram craze in 1818. The caption translated: “Take care of yourself, you’re not made of steel. The fire has almost gone out and it is winter. It kept me busy all night. Excuse me, I will explain it to you. You play this game, which is said to hail from China. And I tell you that what Paris needs most right now is to welcome that which comes from far away.”  

Resource 2

Tangram Cats Puzzle for Kids- YouTube

The enduring popularity of Tangram can be attributed, in part, to its ability to create a wide variety of shapes using only a few pieces. Studies have indicated that Tangram can enhance students' abilities in visual perception, geometry, and even arithmetic. Furthermore, Tangram can serve as a valuable tool for assessing children's proficiency in written languages and their emotional regulation skills. However, for most individuals, Tangram primarily offers an enjoyable and creative challenge.

The video link shows an educational tool, where the tangram pieces make a variety of different “cat” images.