History of the Tangram
Seven pieces cut from a square: the puzzle comes from China, where the oldest surviving book about it was printed in 1813; from 1817 it became a craze in Europe.
Seven boards of skill
In China the puzzle is called qiqiao ban, "seven boards of skill". Who invented it is not known; the oldest surviving book of tangram figures was printed there in 1813. The pieces are cut from a square, and every figure - people, animals, things or signs - uses all seven of them.
A craze in the West
Chinese tangram books reached Philadelphia by ship in 1816, and in 1817 "The Fashionable Chinese Puzzle" appeared in London. In 1817 and 1818 the puzzle became a craze in Britain, France, Denmark and other countries. The word "tangram" is first found in 1848, in a book by the American Thomas Hill. The outlines here were drawn for PaperGames.