Tangrams
One of the oldest and most fascinating puzzles comes, like so many quaint things, from the Far East where, over four thousand years ago, a learned Chinaman named Tan made the invention which forty centuries have been unable to improve or alter. Worthy of a civilization that invented Chess, Tan’s puzzle has lived on unchanged through the ages, affording amusement and thought to men of such ability as Napoleon, who, during his exile on St. Helena, used to spend hour after hour with the little black geometric figures.
Fig. 1.—Showing dotted lines marked off for black pieces in tangram puzzle.
Fig. 2.—Showing square dissected and numbered for tangrams.
Take a perfect square of stiff cardboard of any size, say five inches, and see that the angles and sides are true. Now, very carefully mark it off according to the dotted lines in [Fig. 1], which may be explained thus. ABCD is the square. Rule a line from B to C, and mark off M and H halfway between B and D and C and D respectively, and join M and H. Find G the midpoint of MH and join AG. Mark K and F, midpoints of CE and EB respectively, and join KH and FG. Having thus marked out the card, take a very sharp knife and cut the cardboard along the dotted line. You will then have the seven pieces as shown in [Fig. 2], which are numbered for convenience sake. Having colored these pieces dead black with India ink on both sides, you are ready to start the great Tangram Puzzle.
Fig. 3.—Showing original Tan presenting puzzle to his wife.
Fig. 3a.—Showing how Tan can be fitted together.
All these seven pieces must be fitted against each other, never overlapping, in order to make the figures of men, beasts, houses, or the like.
Take for example [Fig. 3], which shows the original Tan presenting the puzzle. [Fig. 3a] shows how the good gentleman can be fitted together, as the numbers designate which pieces are to be placed against each other.
Fig. 4.—Showing pieces fitted together to represent figure in cocked hat.
Fig. 4a.—Showing how pieces are placed for figure in cocked hat.
Fig. 5.—Representation of depressed cat.
Fig. 5a.—Showing construction of pieces for representation of depressed cat.
Fig. 6.—Lady holding her skirts high.
Fig. 6a.—Showing pieces fitted for representation of lady holding up her skirts.
The individual in the cocked hat who appears in [Figs. 4] and [4a], is another example of how the pieces are to be put together; similarly the depressed cat in [Figs. 5] and [5a], or the lady in Figs. 6 and 6a, who is holding her skirts up so high as she crosses the street. [Figs. 6b] and [6c] show a gentleman apparently tired of life.
These seven pieces can be so disposed as to make hundreds of figures, giving scope for boundless ingenuity and skill.
A good winter evening competition can be arranged by making several sets of Tangram pieces, and distributing one set to each member of the party. The name of some familiar object should then be announced (for example—horse—cat—washerwoman), two minutes being allowed for construction, and points given to the best Tangram.
Fig. 6b.—The gentleman tired of life.
Fig. 6c.—Showing means whereby depressed gentleman is represented.
A variation can be introduced by taking a well-known nursery rhyme or fairy tale, and asking each person to make a Tangram to represent a different subject in the tale. Supposing “The Farmer’s Boy” to be the rhyme, one person would make the figure of that youth, to another would fall the horse, to a third the dog, and so on. As in the former case a prize might be awarded to the most successful manipulator of the little black pieces.