History Of Magic Square
History Of Magic Square
In recreational mathematics, a magic square of order n is an arrangement of n 2 numbers, usually distinct integers, in a square, such that the n numbers in all rows, all columns, and both diagonals sum to the same constant. A normal magic square contains the integers from 1 to n 2 . The term "magic square" is also sometimes used to refer to any of various types of word square.
Normal magic squares exist for all orders n ≥ 1 except n = 2, although the case n = 1 is trivial, consisting of a single cell containing the number 1. The smallest nontrivial case, shown below, is of order 3.
The constant sum in every row, column and diagonal is called the magic constant or magic sum, M . The magic constant of a normal magic square depends only on n and has the value
For normal magic squares of order n = 3, 4, 5, ..., the magic constants are:
History
Magic squares were known to Chinese mathematicians, as early as 650 BC and Arab mathematicians, possibly as early as the 7th century, when the Arabs conquered northwestern parts of the Indian subcontinent and learned Indian mathematics and astronomy, including other aspects of combinatorial mathematics. The first magic squares of order 5 and 6 appear in an encyclopedia from Baghdad circa 983 AD, the Encyclopedia of the Brethren of Purity ( Rasa'il Ihkwan al-Safa ); simpler magic squares were known to several earlier Arab mathematicians. Some of these squares were later used in conjunction with magic letters as in (Shams Al-ma'arif) to assist Arab illusionists and magicians.
Lo Shu square (3×3 magic square)
Chinese literature dating from as early as 650 BC tells the legend of Lo Shu or "scroll of the river Lo". In ancient China there was a huge flood. The great king Yu ( 禹 ) tried to channel the water out to sea where then emerged from the water a turtle with a curious figure/pattern on its shell; circular dots of numbers which were arranged in a three by three grid pattern such that the sum of the numbers in each row, column and diagonal was the same: 15, which is also the number of days in each of the 24 cycles of the Chinese solar year. This pattern, in a certain way, was used by the people in controlling the river.
The Lo Shu Square, as the magic square on the turtle shell is called, is the unique normal magic square of order three in which 1 is at the bottom and 2 is in the upper right corner. Every normal magic square of order three is obtained from the Lo Shu by rotation or reflection.
The Square of Lo Shu is also referred to as the Magic Square of Saturn or Chronos. Its numerical value is obtained from the workings of the I Ching when the Trigrams are placed in an order given in the first river map, the Ho Tu or Yellow River. The Ho Tu produces 4 squares of Hexagrams 8 x 8 in its outer values of 1 to 6, 2 to 7, 3 to 8, and 4 to 9, and these outer squares can then be symmetrically added together to give an inner central square of 5 to 10. The central values of the Ho Tu are those of the Lo Shu (so they work together), since in the total value of 15 x 2 (light and dark) is found the number of years in the cycle of equinoctial precession (12,960 x 2 = 25,920). The Ho Tu produces a total of 40 light and 40 dark numbers called the days and nights (the alternations of light and dark), and a total of 8 x 8 x 8 Hexagrams whose opposite symmetrical addition equals 8640, therefore each value of a square is called a season as it equals 2160. 8640 is the number of hours in a 360-day year, and 2160 years equals an aeon (12 aeons = 25,920 yrs).
To validate the values contained in the 2 river maps (Ho Tu and Lo Shu) the I Ching provides numbers of Heaven and Earth that are the 'Original Trigrams' (father and mother) from 1 to 10. Heaven or a Trigram with all unbroken lines (light lines - yang) have odd numbers 1,3,5,7,9, and Earth a Trigram with all broken lines have even numbers 2,4,6,8,10. If each of the Trigram's lines is given a value by multiplying the numbers of Heaven and Earth, then the value of each line in Heaven 1 would be 1 + 2 + 3 = 6, and its partner in the Ho Tu of Earth 6 would be 6 + 12 + 18 = 36, these 2 'Original Trigrams' thereby produce 6 more Trigrams (or children in all their combinations) -- and when the sequences of Trigrams are placed at right angles to each other they produce an 8 x 8 square of Hexagrams (or cubes) that each have 6 lines of values. From this simple point the complex structure of the maths evolves as a hexadecimal progression, and it is the hexagon that is the link to the turtle or tortoise shell. In Chinese texts of the I Ching the moon is symbolic of water (darkness) whose transformations or changes create the light or fire - the dark value 6 creates the light when its number is increased by 1. This same principle can be found in ancient calendars such as the Egyptian, where the 360 day year of 8640 hrs was divided by 72 to produce the 5 extra days or 120 hours on which the gods were born. It takes 72 years for the heavens to move 1 degree through its Precession.
Cultural significance
Magic squares have fascinated humanity throughout the ages, and have been around for over 4,120 years. They are found in a number of cultures, including Egypt and India, engraved on stone or metal and worn as talismans, the belief being that magic squares had astrological and divinatory qualities, their usage ensuring longevity and prevention of diseases.
The Kubera-Kolam is a floor painting used in India which is in the form of a magic square of order three. It is essentially the same as the Lo Shu Square, but with 19 added to each number, giving a magic constant of 72.
Persia
Although a definitive judgement of early history of magic squares is not available, it has been suggested that magic squares are probably of pre-Islamic Persian origin. The study of magic squares in medieval Islam in Persia is however common, and supposedly, came after the introduction of Chess in Persia. For instance in the tenth century, the Persian mathematician Buzjani has left a manuscript on page 33 of which there is a series of magic squares, which are filled by numbers in arithmetic progression in such a way that the sums on each line, column and diagonal are equal.
Arabia
Magic squares were known to Islamic mathematics, possibly as early as the 7th century, when the Arabs got into contact with Indian culture, and learned Indian mathematics and astronomy, including other aspects of combinatorial mathematics. It has also been suggested that the idea came via China. The first magic squares of order 5 and 6 appear in an encyclopedia from Baghdad circa 983 AD, the Rasa'il Ikhwan al-Safa (the Encyclopedia of the Brethern of Purity); simpler magic squares were known to several earlier Arab mathematicians.
The Arab mathematician Ahmad al-Buni, who worked on magic squares around 1250 A.D., attributed mystical properties to them, although no details of these supposed properties are known. There are also references to the use of magic squares in astrological calculations, a practice that seems to have originated with the Arabs.
India
The 3x3 magic square was used as part of rituals in India from vedic times, and continues to be used to date. A well known early 4x4 magic square in India can be seen in Khajuraho in the Parshvanath Jain temple. It dates from the 10th century.
This is referred to as the Chautisa Yantra, since each row, column, diagonal, 2x2 sub-square, and the corners of each 3x3 and 4x4 square, sums to 34.
Europe
In 1300, building on the work of the Arab Al-Buni, Greek Byzantine scholar Manuel Moschopoulos wrote a mathematical treatise on the subject of magic squares, leaving out the mysticism of his predecessors. Moschopoulos is thought to be the first Westerner to have written on the subject. In the 1450s the Italian Luca Pacioli studied magic squares and collected a large number of examples.
In about 1510 Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa wrote De Occulta Philosophia , drawing on the Hermetic and magical works of Marsilio Ficino and Pico della Mirandola, and in it he expounded on the magical virtues of seven magical squares of orders 3 to 9, each associated with one of the astrological planets. This book was very influential throughout Europe until the counter-reformation, and Agrippa's magic squares, sometimes called Kameas, continue to be used within modern ceremonial magic in much the same way as he first prescribed.
The most co
Magic Squares
There are 880 different solutions to the 4x4 magic square, including the one in the Durer painting. Here is a quote from David Singmaster on the history of Magic Squares,
History Of Magic Squares
History Of Magic Squares Magic Squares have fascinated mankind throughout the ages, with ... Chinese literature dating from as early as 2800 B.C., when a Magic Square known as the ...
Magic Square -- from Wolfram MathWorld
History and Terminology Number Theory Probability and Statistics Recreational Mathematics ... A magic square is a square array of numbers consisting of the distinct positive integers 1, 2 ...
A Mini-History of Magic Squares
Magic Squares home page: a short history. ... A Mini-History of Magic Squares The First Magic Squares. The earliest known magic square is Chinese, recorded around 2800 B.C. Fuh-Hi ...
Amazon.com: Legacy of the Luoshu: The Mystical, Mathematical Meaning ...
It describes with a lot of nice illustrations the history of the first known magic square 3x3, constructed by the Chinese, a very very long time ago.
Simple magic square - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A simple magic square is the lowest of two basic classes of magic square. ... Edit this page; History
Math Forum: Suzanne Alejandre: Magic Squares
Special magic square unit by Neil Abrahams The Franklin Square Background and ... the foundation of a house to dispel evil spirits, the Double Six Magic Square at the Shaanxi History ...
MAGIC SQUARE,
in mathematics, array of distinct numbers so arranged in a square that the sums of each row, each column, and each main diagonal are equal. For example, the square array
Magic square - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In recreational mathematics, a magic square of order n is an arrangement of n 2 numbers, usually distinct integers, in a square, such that the n numbers in all rows, all columns ...
HISTORY OF MAGIC
... desired to capture--sometimes with the secured co-operation of demons, and sometimes with the aid of magical spells. Laws of Magic Magic Circle The Four Quarters Magic Square Magic
