In China, the popularity of the work by Bi Wu Jushi and Sang Xia Ke inspired puzzle enthusiasts and entrepreneurs to create additional tangram figures and publish their own collections of diagrams. During the last half of the Qing Dynasty (1644 - 1912), tangrams enjoyed great popularity among commoners, scholars, and the wealthy. Elaborate tangram sets made of wood, glass and tortoise shells were soon being produced in the workshops of the port village of Canton and sold to foreign merchants returning to Europe and the Americas.
A Journey Through Time