About the early 19th century, the jigsaw puzzle was first introduced to Europe. Europeans called it "Tang ram" or "Tangtu", which means "Chinese board".
Also called the modern intellectual jigsaw puzzle, it is based on the traditional jigsaw puzzle and uses the geometry, topology and linear programming principles of modern advanced mathematics to design a modern "intellectual jigsaw puzzle". It is composed of seven irregular plates: circle, semicircle, triangle, trapezoid, angular irregular figure (also called right-angled plate), and circular irregular figure (also called large plate). As shown in the picture: Rules: Flip and place the seven boards to complete the puzzle.
The jigsaw puzzle is a famous puzzle toy in China and is widely spread in countries around the world. The traditional jigsaw puzzle evolved from the "Yan Jitu" of the Song Dynasty in my country. The design principle came from the "Pythagorean Method" of the Western Zhou Dynasty. It has been more than 3,000 years ago. It finally matured in the late Ming Dynasty and early Qing Dynasty. Around the beginning of the 19th century, the jigsaw puzzle was first introduced to Europe. Europeans called it "Tang ram", which means "Chinese board". In 1805, the book "New Chinese Children's Mysteries" was published in Europe, introducing the tangram puzzle to people. It was later introduced to the Americas. After 1817, the United Kingdom, the United States, France and other countries successively published books dedicated to the study of jigsaw puzzles. Because it can enlighten wisdom, Americans are still popular in the national "American Jigsaw Puzzle Championship". According to official statistics, more than 85 families actively participate in this activity. The richest man Bill Gates and former President Carter are all enthusiastic fans of this activity. A computer expert in the United States developed a tangram puzzle program for this purpose. Tangram has essentially become a worldwide educational toy.
However, there are too many triangles in the traditional tangram. The more triangles are repeated, the fewer changes there are, thus affecting and limiting its puzzle function. In order to expand the functions of the tangram, Mr. Lou Zhuqiu, a researcher in graphic science, designed a modern "intellectual tangram" based on the traditional tangram and quoted the geometry, topology and linear programming principles of modern advanced mathematics. Its appearance seems simple, but in fact it is very different from the traditional jigsaw puzzle. It has endless mysteries when assembled, creating an infinite world. Therefore, it has spread rapidly among the majority of teenagers and has become a veritable intellectual and enjoyable educational product.
Compared with the traditional jigsaw puzzle, modern intellectual jigsaw puzzles have very different appearances, but they both have very similar and rigorous mathematical rules. Assume that the side length of one of the boards is 1, then the other side lengths are the addition and subtraction combination of 1 and √2, and each interior angle is an integral multiple of 45 degrees... These all reflect the unity of the connotative mathematical principles of the modern tangram and the traditional tangram. .
The modern intellectual jigsaw puzzle has fundamentally changed the shortcomings of the traditional jigsaw puzzle of "small number of patterns, monotonous image, and no arc", and was selected as "China's Excellent Patent" by the National Patent Office. At present, the "Intellectual Tangram" can create more than 2,000 vivid and lively patterns, and new patterns are still emerging. Carrying out the "Intelligence Tangram" series of science popularization activities will help stimulate children's interest in learning and loving science, develop children's intelligence, exercise their manual and mental abilities, and inspire their creative consciousness. Today, when the whole society is generally paying attention to the creative education of young people, the emergence of "Intellectual Tangram" has been widely praised by many scientists and educators.
The popularization of the "Intellectual Tangram" activity will surely play an important role in enriching the content of school science and technology classes and activity classes, and enriching the after-school life of children. At the same time, it will also play a catalytic role in the transformation of my country's basic education from exam-oriented education to quality education.
*Note: The historical records are excerpted from pages 136-161 of "A Brief History of Chinese Folk Toys".