FROM THE PUBLISHER

The tangram is a simple Chinese puzzle in the shape of a square. It consists of seven pieces - five triangles, a square, a rhomboid - which may be arranged to form a multitude of different shapes.

The many shapes and patterns to be constructed from these seven pieces are presented in this book as more than 1,600 silhouettes. These images range from representation figures - humans, animals, plants, boats, houses - to geometric designs and shapes.

Your task, as reader and puzzle solver, is to recreate the silhouettes, using the seven - no more, no less - pieces of the puzzle. If you think this is easy, think again. The shape, and it's up to you to figure out where the individual pieces go.

In time you will come to understand, with a certain amount of imagination, that the lines between pieces are indeed there - it's just that they are invisible! You can't see them at first. But in the process of solving the puzzles they will become progressively more visible to your eyes and mind.

What you ultimately discover is that there is a certain energy in the black square with its seven pieces - a force that goes beyond geometry and linear thinking. It is an energy that empowers you to exceed your present mental abilities and attain a higher level to vision.

Without question, the tangram, in stimulating creativity and heightening perceptual awareness, is a mind-expanding experience. With any luck, you might even feel a slight sensation of transcendence as you master the language of the tangram pieces.

SYNOPSIS