Hello I am Lowi, a five thousand year old turtle. I live in the river Lo (the yellow river) in China. Here’s my story
(the Lo Shu)!

 

When I was young (in the year 2800 before Christ) I was a servant of the river god. When the river god was
angry the river would overflow. The people of a village near by the river would place a gift by the bank of the
river. They hoped the river god would accept the gift, and the river would not overflow again. Each time as the
villagers placed a gift by the bank of the river I would come out of the river and walk around the gift.

One day there was a little boy near by the river. He looked at my shell and saw that my shell-pattern consisted
of nine cells. The nine cells contain 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 or 9 dots. He repeatedly counted the dots of 3 cells
(horizontal, vertical or diagonal) in a row. Each time the little boy counted 15 dots.

The little boy went to the headman of the village and told him about the spots on my shell. The headman orga-
nised a meeting. The villagers deceided to place 15 gifts by the bank of the river.

I came out of the river and I walked 15 times around the presents. That’s a long time for a turtle! Then the river
god appeared. He accepted the gifts and indicated to the villagers that the river would not overflow again.

 

So, that was a pretty exciting story, wasn’t it! Would you like to find out how to make the magic square from my
story. There are eight different ways to make the 3x3 magic square. You will need the following 3 instructions
for this:

 

[instruction 1]   Always put the 5 in the middle of the square.

[instruction 2]   Always put the 2, 4, 6 and 8 always in one of the corners of the square.

[instruction 3]   Always put the 2 and 8 and the 4 and 6 always in the same diagonal (so not

Print this page and get stuck in.

Have fun!!!


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