Magic Square/Examples/Order 3/Historical Note

Historical Note on Order 3 Magic Square

The order 3 magic square was known to the ancient Chinese, where it features in that cultural mythology.

It is the earliest known example of a magic square.

It is connected with the mystical traditions of the Far East, and, with its obvious $4$ corner elements and $4$ side elements, evokes correspondences with various $4$-nesses in nature: the $4$ cardinal compass points, the $4$ seasons, and so on.

In Chinese legend going back to at least the $5$th century BCE, it was a gift of a turtle from the River Lo to the Emperor Yu the Great, who supposedly first controlled the Lo and the Yellow rivers.


Also known as

This $3 \times 3$ magic square is also known as the Luo-shu or Lo-shu, as it was referred to in ancient Chinese writings.


Sources

  • 1959: J. Needham: Science and Civilisation in China, Volume 3: Mathematics and the Sciences of the Heaven and the Earth
  • 1986: David Wells: Curious and Interesting Numbers ... (previous) ... (next): $9$
  • 1992: David Wells: Curious and Interesting Puzzles ... (previous) ... (next): Puzzles from China: The First Magic Square: $59$
  • 1997: David Wells: Curious and Interesting Numbers (2nd ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): $9$
  • 1998: David Nelson: The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics (2nd ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): magic square
  • 2008: David Nelson: The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics (4th ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): magic square
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