What's the difference between a Kongming lock and a Ruben lock?

There is no difference between the two.

The Kongming Lock, also known as Bagua Lock and Luban Lock, is a fixed combination of traditional residential buildings in ancient China. Lu Ban lock and Kongming lock are two different names for the same thing.

The Kongming lock, without nails and ropes, supported entirely by its own structural connections, like a piece of paper folded in half to stand up, seems simple, but cohesion of extraordinary wisdom, in the Chinese people's intellectual toys have been widely spread.

During the Spring and Autumn Period, Lu Ban, an artisan from Lubang, made a toy that could be assembled and disassembled to test his son's intelligence using six wooden sticks. After a busy night, my son finally took it apart. This toy is called the Lupin Lock.

Development of the Lu Ban Lock (also known as the Kongming Lock):

The book Goose Illusion Compendium by the owner of the Peach Blossom Immortal Hall of the Qing Dynasty describes in detail the "Six Sons Joint Formula". The book said it "is a puzzle tool, such as the seven tangrams, nine consecutive rings. Its origin is from the theater artist". 6 short wood were crowned with six arts, the center has a gap, to the gap together, as a cross double cross shape.

China's folk artists use the Lu Ban lock structure to make a variety of handicrafts, such as winding board, chopsticks tube, candlestick, fitness ball and so on. In addition, in recent times there are combination balls, combination horses, Rubik's cube latches and mirror frames made of plastic and wood.

Qin Xiaochun, an expert in intellectual play, has devoted himself to the innovation of Luban locks, improving the traditional six-column Luban locks into seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, and even fifteen columns, which was awarded a national patent. The locks of Lu Ban locks are connected, and they become a new combination. The "Tic-Tac-Lin-Fang" and "Lian-Fang Tower" created by Qin Xiaochun are made by connecting several Lu Ban locks.

Li Tiedun, a farmer from Anping, Hebei province, even used hundreds of Luban locks to make a "10,000-chewed tower". This connection is not a simple stacking and gluing, but with a gap in the complexity of the plug.

According to the American intelligence master Martin Gardner test, Lu Ban locks about several hundred years ago to foreign countries. 1857 the U.S. publication of the "Magician's Handbook" mentioned this toy. Gardner also used the unit division method to label the notches, pointing to a theoretical 4,096 styles.

Burr (prickly fruit) is commonly used in English to refer to the Luban lock. The full name is Six-piece burr puzzle, meaning "six-piece burr puzzle".