Ancient Chinese

Mathematics
Mathematics of Shang and
Western Zhou
Mathematics of Eastern
Zhou
 EASTERN ZHOU
• By 770 BC the official Zhou court diminished its authoritative power over
the increasing number of dukedoms. This marked the first year of what
will later be called the Eastern Zhou dynasty (770 – 256 BC). This time
period would prove to be a pivotal five centuries for Chinese civilization.
• The Eastern Zhou dynasty is divided into two:
The first half of the Eastern Zhou dynasty was called the Spring-Autumn
period, and the second half was called the Warring States period.
• This era of strife was responsible for establishing several feudal
kingdoms that vied for supremacy with rapidly technological progress.
• As for mathematics, several innovations made mathematics more accessible to the
commoner. The oldest decimal multiplication table uncovered from archaeological
excavations were compiled around the 4th century BC. This multiplication table was
written on bamboo strips, which included the 9 x 9 multiplication table, products with
one-half, and select products up to 90 squared.
• The most important mathematical innovation of the Eastern Zhou dynasty would be
the counting board and counting rods. Unique to the Far East, the counting board was
the chief computing tool from the Warring States period (476 – 221 BC) to the 15th
century AD.
• Numbers were now written using digits that correspond to different place values. This
was due to one key innovation: the decimal positional system. With the decimal
positional system, the number 9999 would only require four symbols (but twenty
counting rods).
• Not only did the counting board ease the expression of numbers, but the
built-in place values quickened computation time. The rules of carrying in
addition, borrowing in subtraction can now be easily visualized. The
counting board standardized many arithmetic algorithms taught in the
modern day.
The Math-Deprived Qin
• Five hundred years of feudal wars ended with the ascendance of Qin
Shihuang, the first emperor of China.
• In the span of 27 years, Qin Shihuang exploited the best military
technologies, and a brutally efficient political philosophy to conquer all of
China.
• The Legalism of Shang Yang, Han Fei and Li Si, with many socio-economic
reforms, and its uncompromising meritocracy transformed the kingdom of
Qin from the backwaters of China, into an agricultural and industrial
powerhouse.
• Qin Shihuang was a controversial figure in Chinese history. He was the man
who forged the Chinese identity, but simultaneously regarded as a ruthless
tyrant. However, there is little evidence of any mathematical progress during
• There were probably two reasons: first, the short time span; second, the
immense amount of reform.
• The Qin dynasty lasted only 15 years, outliving Qin Shihuang by only four
years. Much of the 15 years was spent on the standardization of writing,
weights and measures, roads, and the construction of numerous
mega-projects. There was little time for cultivating culture or intellectual
curiosity. Furthermore, Qin Shihuang attempted to destroy much of the
“antiquated” schools of thought.
• Later mathematicians such as Liu Hui even accused the Qin court for burning
mathematical texts alongside the Confucian classics. This accusation, although
possibly true, was not founded on historical fact.
Mathematics of the
Han
Counting Rods
 Sticks used by Chinese, Japanese,
and Koreans for mathematical
calculation.
Generally, vertical rod numbers
are used for the position for the
units, while horizontal rod
numbers are for the tens. Red
rods represent positive numbers,
Pascal’s triangle using rod numbers
and black rods represent
negative numbers.
Zhoubi Suanjing
This book dates from the period of the Zhou Dynasty (1046
BCE-256 Bce), yet its compilation and addition of materials
continued into the Han Dynasty.
It is an anonymous collection of 246 problems encountered by the
Duke of Zhou and his astronomer and mathematician, Shang Gao.
Each question has stated their numerical answer and
corresponding arithmetic algorithm.
The most important content included in Zhoubi Suanjing is the
proof for Chinese version of Pythagorean Theorem, which is
propose by Zhao Shuang, a Chinese mathematician.
The Nine Chapters
Jiuzhang Suanshu, which is also called The Nine Chapters
on Mathematical Arts, is the most influential and
groundbreaking mathematician work in Chinese History.
It is the first known book to feature negative numbers
using black counting rods. It is also feautures decimal
fractions as a means to solve equations and represent
measurements. Gaussian elimination, an algorithm used to
solve linear equautiions, was known as the Array Rule in
the Jiuzhang suanshu.
Liu Hui
Era of Disunity
T his era where mathematical theory grew in
attempt to understand the underlying principles of
the methods prescribed in the Han dynasty texts.
Liu Hui (c. 263 C.E.)
Liu Hui was born not long after the fall of the
Han dynasty into a family descendant from the line
of the Marquis of Zixian He was a Chinese
mathematician and writer who lived in the state
of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period
(220–280) of China.
Commentary on the Nine Chapters
Approximates pi by approximating circles polygons, doubling the
number of sides to get better approximations. From 96 and 192
sided polygons, he approximates pi as 3.141014 and suggested
3.14 as a practical approx.
States principle of exhaustion for circles
Suggests Calvalieri's principle to find accurate volume of cylinder
Haidao suanjing (Sea Island Mathematical Manual). This book
contained several problems related to surveying and practical
problems of geometry, including the measurement of the heights
of Chinese pagoda tower.
This smaller work outlined instructions on how to
measure distances and heights with "tall
surveyor's poles and horizontal bars fixed at right
angles to them". With this, the following cases
are considered in his work:
∙ The measurement of the height of an island
opposed to its sea level and viewed from the
sea
∙ The height of a tree on a hill
∙ The size of a city wall viewed at a long distance
The depth of a ravine (using hence-forward
cross-bars)
∙ The height of a tower on a plain seen from a hill
∙ The breadth of a river-mouth seen from a distance on land
∙ The width of a valley seen from a cliff
∙ The depth of a transparent pool
∙ The width of a river as seen from a hill
∙ The size of a city seen from a mountain.
 Liu Hui and his approximate π by approximating polygons .The
earliest written approximation of π are as follows. Around
1900-1600 B.C., in Babylon, π ≈ 3.125; around 1650 B.C., in Egypt, π
≈ 3.1605; around 1200 B.C., in China, π ≈ 3; around 600 B.C., in
India, π ≈ 3.088. Archimedes gave the first algorithm for calculating
π by using polygons inside and outside a circle and by computing the
perimeters of the polygons.

Around 263, instead of computing the segment length, Liu Hui

(about 220 - about 280), who wrote his commentary on the Jiuzhang
Suanshu, computed the area of the regular 192- polygon inside the
unit circle to obtain 3.141024 < π < 3.142704, and the area of the
regular 3072-polygons to get π ≈ 3.14159.
Liu also wrote Haidao Suanjing (Sea Island
Mathematical Manual) which was originally an
appendix to his commentary on the Jiuzhang Suanshu.
In the book Liu uses Pythagoras’s theorem to calculate
heights of objects and distances to objects which
cannot be measured directly. This was to become one
of the themes of Chinese mathematics.
The book: Mathematical Manual of Sun Zi The book the
Mathematical Manual of Sun Zi was written by Sun Zi in
the late third century.

In the book, it has the following problem: It is required to

find an integer that leaves remainder 2 on division by 3,
remainder 3 on division by 5, and remainder 2 on
division by 7. Although the answer can be easily found by
experiment, Sun Zi offers the following explanation
which indicates a general method.
Zu Chongzi and
Zu Geng
Zu Chongzhi (429 – 500 AD) and Zu Geng (450 – 520 AD)

•Zu Chongzhi was a Chinese

mathematician and astronomer during
the Liu Song and Southern Qi Dynasties.
•He did a lot of famous mathematics
during his life.
Zu Chongzhi (429-500 AD)
•His three most important contributions
were:
1. studying The Nine Chapters on the
Mathematical Art,
2.calculating pi, and
3.calculating the volume of sphere.
Zu Geng (450-520 AD)
 His 3 most important
contribution in the history
of mathematics
1.The Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art
•As we know, The Nine Chapters on the
Mathematical Art is the most famous
book in the history of Chinese
mathematics.
•In ancient China, most people could not
understand “The Nine Chapters on the
Mathematical Art”.
•Zu Chongzi read the book and then he
used his comprehension to explain the
formulas of the book.
•Zu Chongzhi, and his father wrote the
“Zhui Shu”(缀术) together. The nine chapters on the mathematical art
 1.The Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art

•The book made The Nine Chapters on

the Mathematical Art easier to read.
•And the book also added some
important formula by Zu. For example,
the calculation of pi and the calculation
of sphere volume.
•“Zhui Shu” also become math textbook
at the Tang Dynasty Imperial Academy.
•Unfortunately, the book was lost in the
Northern Song Dynasty.
The nine chapters on the mathematical art