Set of 3 Chinese Puzzle Boxes

Description

This is a group of 3 different Secret Boxes with 3 different solutions. Solve each fiendish challenge to unlock the secret of each box. 

They can be used as a money box with a slot for coins or notes. And great for hiding a Gift Card or other small gift for some extra Birthday or Christmas frustration!

We’ve included the Good Luck secret box, the popular Heart Secret Box and the Autumn box from the Four Season’s collection.  A couple of basic single chamber Chinese secret boxes and one of the muli-chamber boxes too! Save on the individual price per box.
(If you have purchased this Set of 3 before it previously included the Good Fortune or Secret Box I which are both now sold out.)

Good Luck –  Level 3 difficulty so great for beginners. Size: 151mm x 80mm x 55mm   Size inside: 123mm x 65mm x 30mm
Heart Secret Box – Level 3 stars. (Heart on top) Dilemma! Size: 150mm x 65mm x 50mm Space inside: 105mm x 50mm x 25mm
Mysterious Chinese Secret Box Four Seasons Series – Autum. W chambers.  Size inside: Chamber 1-134mm x 65mm x 30mm 2-130mm x 50mm x 12mm

The boxes all come in individual packaging and include a solution so you can buy three to keep a couple for yourself and give a couple away as presents.

Peter Rasmussen & Wei Zhang wrote to us recently to share a very interesting history about the origins of these “Secret Boxes”. Peter and Wei wrote this about these puzzle boxes:

“They are based on antique treasure boxes found in China. 

Japanese puzzle boxes are very popular and are known throughout the world. Chinese puzzle boxes, on the other hand, are relatively unknown—in China as well as in the rest of the world. This may be due to the fact that Chinese puzzle boxes were produced in a geographically remote part of China and only recently made their way to antique markets in some of the cities. Or it could be because the Chinese boxes were made to serve as practical household objects, whereas Japanese puzzle boxes were intentionally created as novelties to be marketed to travellers and tourists who then spread their fame.

We’ve been collecting and researching the histories of Chinese puzzles since 1997. Occasionally we came across a box—around the size of a shoebox—that required an ingenious trick to open it. No two boxes were exactly alike, and some required a number of steps to open. Whenever we asked about the origin of these boxes, the reply was always the same: they came from Shanxi province. We began travelling around Shanxi in 1999 and found many more of these clever boxes in small rural markets. The boxes had been used by families with property to hold deeds and other valuables. One has an inscription dated “31st year of the Guangxu reign” (1905), proving that their use goes back more than 100 years. Today people enjoy the challenge of opening the boxes as puzzles rather than using them to hold their treasures.

Now Mi-Toys is producing these modern puzzle boxes based on 3 of the boxes in our collection. Our hope is that this will help to gain wider recognition for the lost art of making and solving Chinese puzzle boxes.”

Peter & Wei are working on:  Classical Chinese Puzzle Project  http://ChinesePuzzles.org  You will find a wealth of fascinating information about the origins of Chinese puzzles on this website.