Science  People  Locations  Timeline
Index: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Home > Tangram


 

Tangram (七巧板) or ch'i ch'ae pan or Seven-Board of Cunning is an ancient Chinese puzzle.


It consists of 7 pieces, called Tans, which fit together to form a square:

The objective is to form a given shape with seven pieces. The shape has to contain all the pieces, which must not overlap.

It is said that the Pythagorean theorem was discovered in the Orient with help of Tangram pieces.

The puzzler Sam Loyd devised many tangram puzzles.

The word "tangram" doesn't mean anything in Chinese. The English word is built from TANG + GRAM. In the Cantonese dialect, Tang (唐) is a synonym of "Chinese".

1 See also

2 Bibliography



Read more »

Non User