The Six Pieces is QiYi’s version of the six-piece burr puzzle, the best-known Luban lock configuration. Six long notched pieces cross in the centre to form a three-dimensional star that, once assembled, looks as if it were made in one piece. It is part of the brand’s Kong Ming Lock series.

• BrandQiYi
• SeriesKong Ming Lock
• TypeBurr puzzle (Luban lock)
• MaterialPlastic
• Pieces6

What is a Luban lock?

Luban locks, also known as Kong Ming locks, are the Chinese version of burr puzzles: puzzles made of notched pieces that hold one another together without glue or screws. Tradition credits their origin to the carpenter Lu Ban or to the strategist Zhuge Liang, known as Kongming. Unlike a Rubik’s cube, nothing turns here: the pieces slide and come apart.

How it works

The aim is to separate the six pieces and reassemble them. There are no magnets or axles: the whole thing holds together through the shape of the notches, and only a specific order lets you open and close it. As the benchmark format of the family, it also serves as a foundation for moving on later to models with more pieces or less obvious joints.