Helaine Selin
Editor
 
 
 
 
 

Encyclopaedia of the
History of Science,
Technology, and
Medicine in
 
Non-Western Cultures
 
 

Third Edition
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
With 2463 Figures and 138 Tables
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Editor Helaine Selin
Hampshire College
Amherst, MA, USA
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
ISBN 978-94-007-7746-0 ISBN 978-94-007-7747-7 (eBook)
ISBN 978-94-007-7748-4 (print and electronic bundle)
DOI 10.1007/978-94-007-7747-7
 
Library of Congress Control Number: 2015957805
 
 
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  2818
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Mathematics in Vietnam
 
Mathematics in Vietnam
 
Alexei Volkov
Center for General Education and Institute of
History, National Tsing-Hua University,
Hsinchu, Taiwan
 
 
 
Introduction
 
Prior to the late twentieth century, only a few
efforts were made to locate and study the extant
Vietnamese mathematical treatises. The first
attempt was made by the Japanese historian of
mathematics Mikami Yoshio 三上義夫
(1875–1950) who in his paper (Mikami, 1934)
analyzed the contents of the Vietnamese treatise
Chỉ minh toán pháp 指明算法 (Guide Towards
Understanding of Computational Methods) and
provided several quotations from it; the current
whereabouts of the book studied by Mikami are
unknown. (For the ancient and medieval Chinese
personal names, terms, and titles of treatises, I use
the pinyin transliteration system adopted in Main-
land China and in European sinology. For Viet-
namese terms, I use their original form in Chinese
characters adopted in Vietnam since the first mil-
lennium AD together with their Vietnamese
transliteration in Quốc ngữ 國語 system and, in
some cases, with their Chinese reading in pinyin.
For personal names, titles of books, and technical
terms in Chinese, I provide traditional Chinese
characters and replace them with their simplified
versions currently used in the P.R. of China only
when referring to publications in which the sim-
plified versions were originally used.) His quota-
tions suggest that the treatise Mikami had at his
disposal was either identical with, or textually
close to, the extant treatise Chỉ minh lập thành
toán pháp 指明立成算法 (Guide Towards
Understanding of the Ready-made Computa-
tional Methods) (see below) (Volkov, 2013a). In
1938, the Chinese mathematician and historian of
science Zhang Yong 章用 (1911–1939) visited
Hanoi and explored the collection of old Viet-
namese books preserved in the French School of
  Mathematics in Vietnam
the Far East (É cole française d’Extrême-orient).
Unfortunately, soon after this visit he passed
away and his findings remained unpublished.
Zhang Yong’s study of the discovered materials
was summarized by Li Yan 李儼 (Li, 1954).
General works by colonial French scholars, such
as Huard and Durand (1954, pp. 120, 144, 1963,
pp. 538, 540) and by modern Vietnamese authors
(e.g., Tạ, 1979), contained only scarce and often
unreliable information on traditional Vietnamese
mathematics (Volkov, 2002, p. 375). The first
systematic attempt to describe the extant Viet-
namese astronomical and mathematical texts
was made in 1991 by Han Qi 韓琦 (Han, 1991);
in his work he used the partial copies of Vietnam-
ese treatises made by Zhang Yong in Vietnam,
while the original texts preserved in Vietnamese
and French libraries remained unexplored. As for
the publications on the history of mathematics in
Western languages, only a short paragraph was
devoted to the topic by J.-C. Martzloff who drew
upon secondary sources (Martzloff, 1997,
p. 110). Soon after that, I started publishing
papers based on my study of the original mathe-
matical treatises preserved in Vietnam and in
France (Volkov, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2009,
2012, 2013a, 2014a, 2014b).
 
 
Vietnamese Mathematics: An Outline
 
In China, a state-run School of Computations
(Suan xue 算學 or 筭學) was open during the
Northern Zhou 北周 dynasty (557–581), yet
there are reasons to suggest that a prototype of
the School already existed during the Northern
Wei 北魏 dynasty (386–534) (Lee, 2000, p. 515;
Volkov, 2014a, p. 58). (In some sources, the
character suan 筭 is used instead of the character
suan 算 in the titles of treatises or names of
educational institutions. The original meanings
of these two characters were different: according
to the etymological dictionary Shuowen jiezi 說
文解字 by Xu Shen 許慎 (AD 55?–149?), the
character suan 筭 meant “counting rods,” while
suan 算 meant the operations performed with
them). The School was re-established during the
Sui 隋 (581–618) and Tang 唐 (618–907)
2819
dynasties and operated, with interruptions, until
the early ninth century in two metropolitan cit-
ies, Chang’an 長安 (now Xi’an 西安) and Luo-
yang 洛陽 (Li, 1933 [1977], pp. 260–264;
Volkov, 2014a, p. 63.). Vietnam (which at this
time occupied a relatively small area in the
North of the present-day Vietnam) was domi-
nated by various Chinese dynasties from
111 BC to AD 544 and became a province of
the Chinese Empire from 602 to the fall of the
Chinese Tang dynasty in 907; it remained under
control of ephemeral Southern Chinese dynas-
ties even longer, until 938. This means that in the
first millennium AD gifted Vietnamese students,
at least formally, had the same right to be admit-
ted to the metropolitan educational institutions
as the candidates from other Chinese provinces,
and the history of mathematics education in
Vietnam prior to 938, technically, is identical
with that of mathematics education in the rest
of China.
When Vietnam gained independence from
China in AD 939, the Vietnamese state took
shape based upon the blueprint of its Chinese
counterpart, and a State University 國子監
M
(Viet. Quốc Tử Giám, Chinese Guozi jian, liter-
ally “Directorate [of Education of] Sons of
State”), an equivalent of the Chinese University
of the Tang dynasty, was established in 1076; for
the location of this institution in Hanoi, see, for
example, Volkov, 2013b, p. 119, Fig. 1. There are
records about the metropolitan examinations in
“computations” 算 (Viet. toán, Chinese suan)
that took place in 1077, 1261, 1363, 1403 or
1404, 1477, 1507, and 1762, yet the contents of
these examinations, with one exception, are
unknown (Volkov, 2013b, p. 121, 2014a, p. 68).
An attempt to reconstruct the examination proce-
dure is presented below.
In China, the second century of the rule of the
Song 宋 dynasty (960–1279) was marked by sev-
eral attempts to restore mathematics education of
the first millennium. The mathematical textbooks
were reedited and block-printed in 1084; a new
governmental School of Computations was
established in the same year. It was closed and
opened again several times, and ceased to func-
tion in 1120 (Volkov, 2014a, p. 66). After the
  2820
 
Mathematics in Vietnam, Fig. 1 The block-print Cửu
chương lập thành tı́nh pháp 九章立成併法. A copy pre-
served in the Institute of Han-Nô m Studies, Hanoi (call
number AB.53)
 
transfer of the capital to Lin’an 安 (modern
Hangzhou) in 1127, no attempts to restore the
School are known, except the reprinting, in
1200–1213, of the set of mathematical textbooks
of 1084 (Friedsam, 2003; Lee, 1985, pp. 96–102;
Li, 1933 [1977], pp. 273–280; Volkov, 2014a,
pp. 66–68; Yang, 2003, vol. 2, p. 120). The fact
that the first mathematics examination in the
independent Vietnam took place in 1077, that is,
before the re-establishment of state mathematics
education in China, may suggest that in the elev-
enth century the Vietnamese mathematics educa-
tion and examination system functioned
according to the Chinese regulations of the first
millennium AD. However, the mathematical
textbooks supposedly used in Vietnam at that
time for mathematics instruction were lost, most
likely, prior to the early fifteenth century. One of
the possible reasons for this loss may have been
the destruction of books by fire in the metropol-
itan area during the military conflict with
Champa in 1371. Champa (占城, Vietnamese
Chiêm Thành, Chinese Zhan Cheng) was a state
Mathematics in Vietnam
located in the Central and Southern part of
present-day Vietnam; it was defeated by Viet-
nam in a series of wars and ceased to exist as an
independent political entity in 1832. Another
reason for the loss of books may have been
their massive removal from Vietnamese librar-
ies and transfer to China during the Chinese
occupation from 1407 to 1427. After this period,
two successive orders of the newly established
Lê 黎 dynasty prescribed to look for ancient
books all over the country and to deliver them
to the court, yet there is no available information
concerning any mathematical books found dur-
ing these campaigns. Moreover, a large number
of books were destroyed or lost during the battles
that took place in the capital in 1516 and 1592
(Boudet, 1942, p. 233). The state of mathematics
and mathematics education in Vietnam of the
eleventh to the early fifteenth centuries thus can-
not be reconstructed on the basis of the extant
sources, even though some hypotheses can be
advanced, mainly on the basis of comparison
with contemporaneous systems of mathematics
education in China, Korea, and Japan; for an
outline of these systems, see, for example,
Volkov, 2014a.
The last mathematics examination mentioned
in historical documents took place in 1762, yet a
relatively large number of the extant mathemati-
cal treatises dated of the nineteenth and even of
the early twentieth century suggest that the tradi-
tional Vietnamese mathematics education sur-
vived the French invasion (which started in
1859) and existed in some form until the early
twentieth century. In particular, the reign of the
Emperor Minh Mệnh (Minh Mạng) 明命 (temple
name Thánh Tổ 聖祖, personal name Nguyễn
Phúc Kiểu 福晈 or Nguyễn Phúc Ðảm 福膽,
1791–1841, r. 1820–1841) was the time when
traditional Chinese scholarship of the Ming 明
dynasty (1368–1644) was highly appreciated.
And even though some elements of the European
mathematics and astronomy may have been
known to Vietnamese court astronomers in the
seventeenth century directly from Western mis-
sionaries or via Chinese translations of Western
books, the Vietnamese treatises of the nineteenth
and even early twentieth century still looked
  Mathematics in Vietnam
surprisingly similar to Chinese mathematical
texts compiled prior to the advent of the Western
mathematics to China in the early seventeenth
century. On the interaction between the European
missionaries and Vietnamese astronomers,
astrologers, and geomancers (indiscriminately
referred to as “mathematicians”), see Borri,
1631, pp. 178–190, 1931, pp. 372–381;
Baldinotti, 1629, p. 196; De Rhodes, 1854,
pp. 111–113, 185; Volkov, 2008.
The catalogs Cổ Học Viện Thụ Tich Thủ Sách
˙
古學院書籍守冊 (Inventory of Books [Pre-
served] in the Hall of Ancient Learning), Nội
Các Thụ Mục 內閣書目 (Catalog of Books [Pre-
served] in the Inner Pavilion), Nội Các Thủ Sách
內閣守冊 (Inventory [of Books Preserved] in the
Inner Pavilion), and Tụ Khuê Thụ Viện Tổng Mục
聚奎書院總目 (General Catalog of the College
of Advanced Scholarship) of the Imperial library
currently preserved in the Institute of Han-Nô m
Studies (Hanoi) contain the titles of a number of
Chinese books on mathematics. Among them
there are the treatises of the first millennium AD
Zhoubi suanjing 周髀算經 (Computational Trea-
tise on the Gnomon of the Zhou [dynasty]), Sunzi
suanjing 孫子算經 (Computational Treatise of
Master Sun), Wucao suanjing 五曹算經
(Computational treatise of Five Departments),
Haidao suanjing 海島算經 (Computational trea-
tise [Beginning with a Problem about a] Sea
Island), Xiahou Yang suanjing 夏侯陽算經
(Computational Treatise of Xiahou Yang), and
Qigu suanjing 古算經 (Computational Treatise
on the Continuation [of Traditions] of Ancient
[Authors]); in the catalog Cổ Học Viện Thụ Tich
˙ Viện Thụ Tich Thủ Sách lists the treatise Xiangjie
Thủ Sách 古學院書籍守冊 all these treatises are
dated in the 41st year of the (Chinese) Qianlong
乾隆 reign period (i.e., 1776), and this date may
suggest that these copies were based on the edi-
tions of the respective treatises preserved in the
Chinese Imperial collection Si ku quan shu 四庫
全書. Another group of Chinese mathematical
treatises listed in these catalogs consists of later
mathematical works such as the Xiangjie
jiuzhang suanfa 詳解九章算法 (Detailed Expla-
nations of the Computational Methods of Nine
Categories) (1261) by Yang Hui 楊輝 (1238?–
1298?) (the Jiuzhang suanfa 九章算法
2821
is a variant title of the well-known classic
Jiuzhang suanshu 九章算術 (Computational
Procedures of Nine Categories) also known as
“Mathematical Procedures in Nine Chapters”),
the Suanfa tongzong 算法統宗 (Interrelated Ori-
gins of Counting Methods) (1592) by Cheng
Dawei 程大位 (1533–1606) (listed as Suanfa
tongzun 算法統尊 printed in the year gui-si 癸
巳 of the era Wanli 萬曆, i.e., 1593), the Gougu
yinmeng 勾股引蒙 (Introduction for Beginners
to [Methods] of Right-Angle Triangles) by Chen
Xu 陳訏 (1650–1722), the collected works of
Mei Wending 梅文鼎 (1633–1721), namely, 梅
氏曆算全書 (Complete Books on Calendar and
Computations of Mr Mei) (1723) and 梅氏叢書
輯要 (Compiled Essentials of the Collected
Books of Mr Mei) (1759), the Yang Hui suanfa
zhaji 楊輝算法札記 (Reading Notes on the Com-
putational Methods of Yang Hui) by Song
Jingchang 宋景昌 (dates unknown; active in the
mid-nineteenth century) printed in 1842, and the
Zhiming suanfa 指明算法 (Guide Towards
Understanding of Computational Methods). The
author and date of publication of the latter treatise
M
are unknown, but it is quite possible that this book
was not identical with the aforementioned Viet-
namese treatise Chỉ minh toán pháp 指明算法
studied by Mikami Yoshio, because there existed
several Chinese mathematical treatises bearing
the same title; for instance, the catalog of the
old Chinese mathematical books (Wu & Li,
2000) lists six treatises with the same title
Zhiming suanfa 指明算法 published during the
Ming and Qing dynasties (p. 366). One more
comment is in order here: the catalog Cổ Học
˙
jiuzhang suanfa as “a block-print [made] in the
year wu-chen of the era Shaoxing of the Song
dynasty” 刻宋紹興戊辰年; this year corresponds
to AD 1148, which is inconsistent with the con-
ventional dates of life of Yang Hui. The Vietnam-
ese Imperial library also preserved a number of
Chinese works on calendar and mathematical
astronomy, yet it remains unknown how much
the Chinese books from this impressive collec-
tion were available to the Vietnamese scholars
interested in mathematics and mathematical
astronomy.
  2822
The Extant Vietnamese Mathematical
Treatises
 
This section contains an annotated and alpha-
betically ordered list of the extant Vietnamese
mathematical treatises currently preserved in
libraries and in private collections. The book
conventionally considered the oldest, the Toán
pháp đại thành (no. 16 below), is credited to the
authorship of one Lương Thê´ Vinh 梁世榮
(1441–1496?), a high-rank official of the Lê 黎
dynasty (1428–1789) (see below). Another
book (no. 3 in the list) was compiled in the
early eighteenth century. The other dated
books were published either in the nineteenth
century or even in the early twentieth century.
The remaining books are not mentioned in the
bibliographic chapter of the Ðại Việt thông sử
大越通史 (Complete History of the Grand Viet)
published in 1749 by the famous Vietnamese
literatus Lê Quý Ðôn 黎惇 (1726–1784?), and
therefore one can be tempted to date all the
remaining books as compiled not earlier
than the late eighteenth century (Gaspardone,
1934, p. 149; Tran, 1938, pp. 97–98). On the
other hand, the mathematical contents of
all these books are similar to that of Chinese
mathematical treatises antedating the introduc-
tion of European mathematical methods to
China by the Jesuits in the early seventeenth
century.
1. Bút toán chỉ nam 筆算指南 (Compass of
Handwritten [lit. “Brush”] Computations)
This text was authored by one Nguyễn
Cẩn 瑾 (also written as 謹 elsewhere; dates
unknown) and revised by Kiu Oánh
Mậu 喬瑩懋 (1854–1912), the two extant
block-printed copies are dated 1909. The
book is formally devoted to the explanation
of the Western method of written calcula-
tions (the practitioners of Vietnamese math-
ematics traditionally used counting
instruments such as counting rods and abaci
to perform arithmetical operations), but actu-
ally it covers a rather wide range of topics
characteristic of traditional Chinese and
Vietnamese mathematics. The book contains
Mathematics in Vietnam
five chapters (quyển 卷). Chapter 1 is entirely
devoted to detailed explanations of four
arithmetical operations performed in written
form and exemplified with relevant prob-
lems. Chapter 2 contains problems of various
types, from simple division to solution of
simultaneous linear equations. Chapter 3
deals with the “measuring fields,” that is,
calculation of the areas of plane rectilinear
and curvilinear figures, and chapter 4 is
devoted to square and cube root extraction.
The concluding chapter 5 deals with right-
angle triangles and is mainly devoted to
methods of distance surveying with one or
several gnomons using the methods found in
ancient and medieval Chinese mathematical
treatises. The Institute of Han-Nom Studies
hosts a manuscript titled Toán pháp 算法
(Computational methods) authored by
Nguyễn Cẩn 謹 and revised by Kiều Oánh
Mậu 喬瑩懋; the copy is dated 1909 (Tran
and Gros 1993, v. 3, p. 352, no. 3791). It is
possible that this is a manuscript copy of the
Bút toán chỉ nam 筆算指南.
2. Chỉ minh lập thành toán pháp 指明立成算法
(Guide for Understanding of the Ready-made
Computational Methods)
This treatise completed by Phan Huy
Khuông 潘輝框 in 1820 opens with a picture
of an abacus which is an exact reproduction
of the picture found in the aforementioned
Chinese mathematical treatise Suanfa
tongzong by Cheng Dawei. The picture is
followed by tables representing powers of
10, monetary units, units of length, weight,
and volume. The following pages contain
32 diagrams of various “fields’ shapes,” that
is, various rectilinear and curvilinear plane
figures; similar shapes can be found in the
Suanfa tongzong, even though the list found
in the Vietnamese treatise differs in spots.
The treatise contains a “mock examination
problem” with a solution and explanations; it
was translated and discussed in the work of
Volkov (2012).
3. Cửu chụơng lập thành tı́nh pháp 九章立成
併法 (Ready-made Methods of Addition of
Nine Categories)
  Mathematics in Vietnam
As the conventional dates of publication
of the inspected editions suggests (namely,
1713 and 1721), this is the earliest extant
Vietnamese mathematical text (here the
word “earliest” refers to the date of physical
production, i.e., printing, of the text and not
to the date of its actual compilation). The
treatise is relatively short and written partly
in Nô m and partly in classical Chinese. There
exist block-printed editions of the treatise
(Fig. 1) and one manuscript version of it
was altered by a later editor, arguably, in
the early nineteenth century. The catalogue
of Tran and Gros (1993, v. 1, pp. 375–376)
suggests that the treatise was compiled by
one Phạm Hữu Chung 范有鍾, literary pseu-
donym (字) Phúc 福; however, the name of
the author is specified in one of the editions
as Phạm Hữu Chổng (?) 范有偅 and the
pseudonym as Phúc Cẩn 福謹, while another
source provides the pseudonym of the author
of the treatise as phonetically identical yet
written with a different character Cẩn (福菫).
The treatise is not subdivided into chapters
and consists of short sections devoted to dis-
cussions of various topics such as multiplica-
tion table, calculation of areas of plane figures,
proportional distribution, and operations with
common fractions, often in versified forms.
The treatise also contains a number of mathe-
matical problems presented in the traditional
format “problem – answer – solution.”
4. Cửu chương lập thành toán pháp 九章立成
算法 (Ready-made Computational Methods
of Nine Categories)
The author and actual time of compilation
of this treatise are unknown; there exists a
manuscript copy of it made in 1899 and pre-
served in the National Library of Vietnam
(Hanoi). The text introduces the names of
the “large numbers,” a multiplication table,
and computation of areas of rectilinear and
curvilinear figures.
5. Cửu chương toán pháp 九章算法
(Computational Methods of Nine Catego-
ries); another title: Cửu chương toán pháp
lập thành 立成 (Ready-made Computational
Methods of Nine Categories).
2823
The catalog of the collection of the Insti-
tute of Han-Nom Studies (Hanoi) lists two
manuscript copies of this treatise produced in
1882. It opens with the section titled “Nam
toán” 南算, “Southern (i.e., Vietnamese)
computations” containing explanations of
arithmetical operations, a list of names of
the large powers of 10, and the multiplication
table 9 x 9. Next comes a long “historical”
section in Nô m containing explanations of
basic mathematical operations and a legend-
ary history of Vietnamese mathematics orig-
inating from the traditional Chinese
mathematical curriculum. The following sec-
tions contain rhymed descriptions of various
mathematical methods, such as extraction of
square roots, reduction of common fractions,
calculations needed for conversion of units
of measure and monetary units, calculations
of areas of plane figures, simple and
weighted distribution. In this part, short
rhymed descriptions are accompanied by rel-
evant detailed computational procedures.
The next section contains a large number of
mathematical problems of various kinds,
M
including several problems of indeterminate
analysis, such as, for example, the classical
problem concerning the unknown number of
rabbits and roosters having together 36 heads
and 100 feet.
6. Ðại thành toán học chỉ minh 大成算學指明
(Guidance and Explanations for the Great
Compendium of Mathematical Learning)
The treatise is authored by one Phạm Gia
Kỷ 范嘉紀, a governmental functionary
(dates unknown), and edited by Phạm Gia
Chuyên 范嘉瑼 (b. 1791, a doctoral tieˆ´n sı̃
進士 degree holder since 1832), a scholar
from the state University Quốc Tử Giám.
The treatise preserved in the Han-Nô m Insti-
tute is a meticulously handwritten text with-
out a cover, yet the title and the names of the
compilers are mentioned on the first page of
the copy. The dates of compilation and of
publication are not specified. The treatise
contains 20 subsections; some of them fit
into traditional Chinese classification of
“Nine categories,” for example, section
  2824 Mathematics in Vietnam
 
16 is devoted to the method of double false
position. However, certain sections appear
rather original; for example, section 1 con-
tains a classification of rectilinear solids
containing 15 different types, to the best of
my knowledge, not found in the extant Chi-
nese treatises.
7. Ðại thành toán pháp 大成算法
(Computational Methods of Great
Compendium)
The cover page of this manuscript treatise
preserved in the Institute of Han-Nôm
(Hanoi) is missing, and the title Cửu chụơng
toán pháp 九章算法 that appears on its sec-
ond page refers to the multiplication table
and thus hardly can be the title of the treatise.
Another title, Ðại thành toán pháp 大成算
法, appears on p. 5a of the manuscript, yet it
remains unclear whether this is the
original title of the treatise. The text is writ-
ten in classical Chinese yet contains a num-
ber of paragraphs in Nô m explaining certain
procedures. It is not subdivided into chapters
and contains descriptions of arithmetical  
Mathematics in Vietnam, Fig. 2 Page 75 of the Thống
operations, measure units, and a list of prob- tông toán pháp 統宗算法 (Picture courtesy of the National
lems devoted to the calculation of areas of Library, Hanoi)
 
plane figures, simple and pondered distribu-  
tion, calculation of land taxation, currency hosts another manuscript cataloged under the
conversion; square and cube root extraction same title Lập thành toán pháp; however, a
procedures are not found among the topics cursory analysis shows that these two texts
discussed. The latter fact suggests that this are not identical. The actual title of the latter
treatise is different from the Cửu chương treatise and the date of compilation remain
toán pháp 九章算法 of 1882, despite the unknown, since the first pages of the manu-
fact that these two books are listed together script are badly damaged while the last pages
in Tran and Gros (1993). are missing.
8. & 9. Lập thành toán pháp 立成算法 (Ready- 10. Thống tông toán pháp 統宗算法 (Counting
made Computational Methods) Methods of Interrelated Origins)
An anonymous manuscript of unknown This is a manuscript of unknown date
date in classical Chinese bearing this title is authored by one Tạ Hữu Thụờng 謝有常
preserved in the Institute of Han-Nô m Stud- (dates unknown) and preserved in the
ies (Hanoi). It contains a standard introduc- National Library (Hanoi) (Fig. 2).
tory part devoted to arithmetical operations Its title makes an obvious allusion to the
and a multiplication table followed by a long aforementioned Chinese treatise Suanfa
section devoted to the computation of the tongzong 算法統宗 (Interrelated Origins
areas of plane figures accompanied by rele- of Counting Methods) (1592) by Cheng
vant diagrams. The remaining part is devoted Dawei 程大位 (1533–1606). Indeed, cer-
to mathematical problems of various types. tain parts of the Chinese treatise are quoted
The library of the Institute of History (Hanoi) verbatim, as, for example, the versified
  Mathematics in Vietnam
rules of calculation of areas of plane figures,
the problem of two walkers, and so
on. Nevertheless, the compiler of the Viet-
namese treatise considerably modified sec-
tions of the Chinese prototype and added a
large number of problems not found in the
original, adapted the Chinese original to the
Vietnamese measure units, and provided his
explanations in Nôm.
11. Toán điền trừ cửu pháp 算田除九法 (Nine
Methods of Division for Computation
[of Areas of] Fields)
A manuscript copy of this anonymous
treatise of unknown date is preserved in the
Institute of Han-Nô m Studies (Hanoi). The
treatise, as its title suggests, is devoted to
calculation of areas of plane figures. The
text is written in classical Chinese, yet con-
tains commentaries in Nôm.
12. Toán học cách trı́ 算學格致 (Exploration
[of Things] and Extension [of Knowledge]
in the Science of Computations)
The first page of the manuscript preserved
in the Institute of Han-Nô m Studies (Hanoi)
is missing and the treatise was listed under
the bogus title Toán pháp 算法
(Computational methods) in the catalogue
of Tran and Gros (1993). However, the actual
title of this treatise is reproduced at the
beginning of each chapter; it reads Toán
học cách trı́ Hoàng Phong Dụ gia thụ chı́nh
bổn 算學格致黃豐裕家書正本, that is,
“The rectified copy of the manuscript of the
Exploration [of Things] and Extension
[of Knowledge] in the Science of Computa-
tions [preserved] in the family of Mr Hoàng
Phong Dụ.” The name of the actual compiler
(s) thus is (are) unknown. According to the
table of contents, the book originally
contained four chapters and an appendix
discussing matters related to construction
works. However, the extant copy contains
only chapters 1–2 and the first four pages of 14. Toán học ta^m pháp 算學心法 (Mental
chapter 3; the rest is irretrievably lost. The
opening chapter is devoted to numerical nota-
tion, execution of arithmetical operations with
a counting instrument (an abacus is mentioned
but not pictured), and metrological units.
2825
It also contains a number of problems illus-
trating these topics, such as distribution of a
given sum of money among a given number of
persons. Chapter 2 is devoted exclusively to
the calculation of the areas of rectilinear and
curvilinear plane figures accompanied with
detailed explanations. Chapter 3 is devoted
to extraction of square and cube roots. The
contents of chapters 4 and 5 cannot be restored
on the sole basis of their titles provided in the
table of contents.
13. Toán học để uẩn 算學底蘊 (Secrets of the
Science of Computation)
Since the first page of the treatise is miss-
ing, the name of the author is unknown. The
title Toán học để uẩn under which the treatise
is found in catalogs is apparently determined
solely on the basis of the line “Table of Con-
tents of the Secrets of the Science of Com-
putation” 算學底蘊目錄 found on the first
page of the only extant manuscript copy of
the treatise preserved in the Institute of
Han-Nôm Studies. The date of the compila-
tion is uncertain either, but, since the name of
the reign era of the emperor Gia Long 嘉隆
M
(r. 1802–1820) is mentioned in the manu-
script, one can suggest that the treatise was
compiled no earlier than 1802. The book
contains 6 chapters devoted to the following
topics: arithmetical operations; computation
of areas of plane figures; extraction of square
and cube roots; a brief presentation of
the methods according to the traditional
Chinese classification 九數 (“Nine [types]
of numerical [computations]”); construction
works; and a mathematical theory of
music. A cursory analysis of the book reveals
that it contains a large number of quotations
from the aforementioned Chinese treatise
Suanfa tongzong 算法統宗 (Interrelated Ori-
gins of Counting Methods) (1592) by Cheng
Dawei 程大位.
Methods of the Science of Computation)
The cover page of the manuscript copy of
this treatise hosted in the Institute of
Han-Nô m studies is missing and its title is
restored on the basis of the title of the preface
  2826 Mathematics in Vietnam
 
 
signed by Hoàng Phong Dụ 黃豐裕 in 1850.
The table of contents lists five chapters: oper-
ations with numbers, calculation of areas of
plane figures, square and cube root extrac-
tion, computations related to construction
works, and computations related to land tax-
ation. However, the chapters are not clearly
separated and their titles are inserted in the
body of the text, which suggests that the
original layout was altered by the copyists.
The treatise also contains items not
corresponding to the five announced topics,
such as methods of remote surveying.
15. Toán pháp 算法 (Computational Methods)
The actual title of the book remains
unknown; the bogus title “Computational
Methods” was apparently given to a manu-
script with missing first pages by the
copyist(s) or by librarians on the basis of its
contents. The author and the date of the com-
pilation are not known either. A manuscript
copy and a microfilm of the book are pre-
served in the Han-Nô m Institute (call number
A.3150). The book is not subdivided into  
chapters; it contains a sequence of 250-odd Mathematics in Vietnam, Fig. 3 The cover page of the
Toán pháp đại thành 算法大成 preserved in the collection
problems devoted to topics including calcu- of the Institute of Han-Nôm Studies, Hanoi
lation of surfaces, applications of the right-  

angle triangles, extraction of square and cube  

roots, among others. A cursory analysis
shows that the book is but a copy-and-paste
style compilation made on the basis of the
Chinese mathematical treatise Suanfa
tongzong 算法統宗 (Interrelated Origins of
Counting Methods) (1592) by Cheng Dawei
程大位. For instance, problems devoted to
the calculation of areas of plane rectilinear
and curvilinear figures, the related computa-
tional procedures as well as the related geo-
metrical diagrams of the Vietnamese treatise
are found in chapter (juan) 3 of the Suanfa
tongzong, problems devoted to root extrac-
tion and solution of polynomial equations
were copied from chapter 6 of the Chinese
treatise, and so on.
16. Toán pháp đại thành 算法大成 (Great Com-
pendium of Mathematical Methods)
The date of compilation and the name
(s) of the compiler(s) are unknown.
A treatise with the same title was credited
to the authorship of Lương Thê´ Vinh 梁世榮
(1441–1496?), a functionary of the Lê 黎
dynasty (1428–1789), in his biographies
(see below); however, the authorship and
the actual date of compilation of the treatise
preserved in the Library of the Institute of
Han-Nô m Studies (Hanoi) are unknown, and
some parts of the treatise can make one doubt
that the book was compiled in the fifteenth
century. There exist two manuscript copies
of the treatise, one produced prior to 1934
(Fig. 3) and its copy made in 1944.
The treatise is not subdivided into chap-
ters and contains 138 problems, if one counts
the problems per se as well as several pro-
cedures that do not correspond to any partic-
ular problems; the presence of those most
probably resulted from loss of parts of the
text. Some geometric problems are not
  Mathematics in Vietnam
explicitly stated, but introduced with a dia-
gram of a figure with given dimensions.
The problems found in the treatise are related
to such popular topics of traditional Chinese
mathematics as the partitioning (proportional
distribution), proportions, “rule of three,”
rule of double false position, square root
extraction, calculation of the areas of recti-
linear and curvilinear plane figures, calcula-
tion of volumes of solids, conversion of
monetary and metrological units of various
types, indeterminate analysis, and “numeri-
cal divination.” The treatise also contains a
large and relatively independent section
devoted to land taxation (for more details,
see below; see also Volkov, 2002).
17. Toán pháp đề cu o ng 算法提綱
(Presentation of the Key Points in Computa-
tional Methods)
The title Toán pháp đề cụơng 算法提綱
of this treatise hosted in the National Library
(Hanoi) is not the actual title of the book. The
first page(s) of the manuscript is (are) miss-
ing and Toán pháp đề cụơng is but the sub- 19. Toán pháp quyển 算法卷 (Volume on Com-
title of its first remaining section. The first
part of the treatise contains a very detailed
explanation of the operations performed with
the abacus and provides numerous diagrams
representing configurations of beads on the
abacus (the instrument featured is the stan-
dard Chinese 2+5 beads abacus with 11 bars).
The remaining part of the manuscript is a
compilation featuring nine categories of Chi-
nese traditional mathematics most likely
made, as a cursory analysis suggests, on the
basis of the Chinese treatise Suanfa tongzong 20. Tổng tụ chư gia toán pháp đại toàn 總聚家
算法統宗 by Cheng Dawei 程大位.
18. Toán pháp ký diệu 算法奇妙 (Mysteries of
Computational Methods)
The title of this anonymous treatise was
established by Tran and Gros (1993) most
likely on the basis of the first page of the
single manuscript copy preserved at the Insti-
tute of Han-Nô m Studies in Hanoi. However,
both the table of contents and the opening
part of the treatise following it specify its title to construction works, mass labor, and other
as Tập thành chụ gia huyễ n ngh、i toán pháp
集成家幻儀算法 (Complete collection of
2827
the counting methods [using] magic devices
of all schools [of mathematics]). The date of
compilation of the treatise is uncertain; how-
ever, since it contains an appendix featuring
the taxation norms adopted during the reign
of the Emperor Minh Mang 明命
(r. 1820–1841), one can conclude that the
received manuscript copy was made no ear-
lier than 1820 (it remains unclear whether
there existed a printed edition of it). The
treatise is not subdivided into chapters, even
though the title page (possibly added later)
suggests that the treatise originally contained
“three chapters united in one.” The received
manuscript contains a short introductory sec-
tion providing information about the numer-
ical notation, units of measures, and other
auxiliary topics; the main section contains a
number of problems, tables, and explanations
related to the traditional topics such as cal-
culation of areas of plane figures, operations
with common fractions, and extraction of
square and cube roots.
putational Methods)
M
This mathematical work signed by one Ðỗ
Ðức Tộ 杜德祚 was completed in 1909. The
book opens with a multiplication table and a
set of prescriptions for operating a counting
instrument, and contains problems related to
proportional distribution, calculation of vol-
umes of solid figures, calculation of areas of
plane figures, extraction of square roots, cal-
culation of the harvest collected from a field
with a given surface, etc.
算法大全 (Great Compendium of the Com-
putational Methods of All Schools)
The manuscript copy preserved in the
Han-Nô m Institute is incomplete; it contains
only chapters 3 (48 problems) and 4 (32 prob-
lems), and the first two pages of an Appendix
(containing one problem). The problems deal
with weighted distribution, calculation of
volumes, and other topics relevant mainly
issues related to administrative duties. It is
possible that the treatise contains problems
  2828
proposed at state mathematics examinations
(chapter 3 opens with a mention of such an
examination).
21. Tru`ng dı́nh Toán học chỉ nam ta^n biên 重訂
算法指南新編 (New Edition of the Re-
established [text of the] Compass for
Methods of Computations)
A manuscript copy of this anonymous
treatise is preserved in the library of the
Institute of History (Hanoi). It contains prob-
lems dealing with calculation of areas of
plane figures, extraction of square and cube
roots, applications of right-angle triangles to
remote surveying (including the method
involving two gnomons and its justification
with diagrams), use of gnomons for land
surveying, as well as other methods. The
text mentions the system of measuring units
established during the reign of the Emperor
Gia Long (1802–1820) and is written in clas-
sical Chinese, thus appearing to be compiled
in the first half of the nineteenth century;
however, it contains a large number of
Western-style calculations written with Ara-
bic numerals inserted into the text, thus giv-
ing the impression that its authors or at least
its later editors or copyists were well familiar
with the Western methods, and the extant
copy was produced much later.
22. Ý Trai toán pháp nhất đắc lục 意齋算法一得
錄 (A Record of What Ý Trai Understood
Correctly in Methods of Computation)
This treatise was completed in 1829 by
Nguyễn Hữu Thận 有慎 [=Nguyễn Ý Trai]
(b. 1736?-?) who occupied high positions in
the government and stayed in China between
1809 and 1813 where he obtained books
related to astronomy and communicated
with local astronomers. For more informa-
tion on the author and the contents of the
treatise, see Volkov, 2014b, pp. 254–255.
The compilation consists of eight chapters
devoted to the basic arithmetical operations
performed with a counting instrument,
metrology, computation of areas of plane
figures, weighted distribution, “extraction of
square roots” (i.e., in modern terms, solution
of quadratic equations), properties of the
Mathematics in Vietnam
right-angle triangles (especially those related
to their use for remote surveying), “extrac-
tion of cube roots” (i.e., numerical solution
of cubic equations), and other topics of
the traditional mathematical curriculum.
The book contains the author’s explanations
concerning the numerical operations to be
performed, the etymology of the mathemati-
cal terms, the rationale of the procedures, and
thus may have been used as the mathematical
manual for professional training of govern-
mental astronomers and mathematicians. My
paper (Volkov, 2014b) contains annotated
translations of excerpts related to the method
of weighted (or proportional) distribution.
 
 
The Structure of a Mathematical
Treatise: The Example of the Toán pháp
đại thành
 
There are two manuscript copies of the treatise
Toán pháp đại thành, both found in the Han-Nom
Institute, Hanoi; their call numbers are VHv.1152
and A.2931. When manuscript A.2931 was pro-
duced is unknown (but it certainly happened prior
to 1934), while the date when the copy VHv.1152
was made (1944) is written on its front page; a
comparison of the copies suggests that the MS
VHv.1152 is a copy of A.2931. Neither manu-
script has a preface or a postface, or any other
data which would suggest the date when the trea-
tise was compiled or would specify the identity of
the author(s). The name of the presumed author
(“Doctor Lương Thê´ Vinh”) is written only on the
first page of each manuscript next to the title;
however, it is possible that this page was added
later (Gaspardone, 1934, p. 149, n. 1).
The treatise is compiled in the traditional
“Chinese” way, as a collection of problems with
numerical answers given along with the proce-
dures (algorithms) for their solution. There are
also several procedures that do not correspond to
any particular problems; most probably this is the
result of loss of parts of the text containing the
corresponding problems and answers. The total
number of problems in the treatise amounts to
138. Some geometric problems are not explicitly
  Mathematics in Vietnam
stated, but introduced with a diagram of a figure
with given dimensions. In one case neither
numerical data nor a problem accompanied an
algorithm, yet the algorithm may well be a frag-
ment from the famous Chinese “Sunzi remain-
ders problem.”
The text of the treatise can be subdivided into
eight parts:
Part 1 (problems 1–35) contains problems
devoted to partitioning, and, in particular, to
division. Part 2 (problems 36–42) contains prob-
lems devoted to the calculation of the areas of
plane figures: a square, a rectangle, a figure
approximated by the area of a trapezium, a cir-
cle, and a segment of a circle. Part 3 (problems
43–69) contains problems devoted to propor-
tions, the rule of three, and the rule of double
false position, as well as to rather simple cases of
multiplication and division. This part also
includes a method for calculating the height of
an object when the height of another object and
the length of the shadows of both objects are
given. Part 4 (problems 70–85) contains prob-
lems devoted to root extraction and to an auxil-
iary algorithm used for the conversion of
monetary units of one type into another. Part
5 (problems 86–93) is a sequel to Part 3. The
reader is asked to solve problems on the calcu-
lation of interest and on multiplication and divi-
sion. However, there is a problem devoted to the
calculation of the volume of a solid figure and a
fragment on divination. Part 6 (problems
94–131) is related to various subjects, such as
calculations of the areas of various figures. Here
one finds such shapes as rectangles, circular seg-
ments, a “horn of the bull,” circles, “drums,”
ellipses, rings, an “eye-lid” (or “eye-brow,”
i.e., the intersection of two circles), an isosceles
triangle, a trapezium, a rectilinear figure com-
posed of several adjacent trapezia, a quadrilat-
eral with four given sides, and the figure formed
by two adjacent squares. The remaining prob-
lems in this group are devoted to the extraction
of square roots, calculation of the volumes of
rectilinear solids, and to the conversion of met-
rological units. Part 7 does not contain mathe-
matical problems; this is a large independent text
devoted to land taxation. Part 8 (problems
2829
132–138) embraces various problems devoted
to “numerical divination,” the calculation of
the height of a tree when the length of its shadow
is given, a rhymed solution to a problem of
indeterminate analysis, and the calculation of
the area of a quadrilateral.
Several “earmarked” mathematical problems
and methods found in the Toán pháp đại thành
studied in order to suggest the possible origins of
the contents of the treatise were discussed in the
work of Volkov (2002). The analyzed topics
included: (1) the counting instruments to be
used; (2) the 9 x 9 multiplication table featured
in the treatise; (3) the lists of the so-called large
numbers; (4) rhymed algorithms for computation
of areas; (5) problems of remote surveying;
(6) problems related to numerical divination;
and (7) problems on indeterminate analysis. The
results of the comparison of the abovementioned
mathematical methods, problems, and instru-
ments with their Chinese counterparts can be
summarized as follows (for more details, see
Volkov, 2002):
1. The lack of explicit references to the abacus
M
in the treatise suggests that either the Com-
pendium was compiled before Vietnamese
mathematicians were acquainted with any
Chinese books devoted to abacus calcula-
tions, or it was compiled later solely on the
basis of Chinese and Vietnamese mathemati-
cal books written prior to 1573 when the first
extant Chinese mathematical treatise devoted
especially to the use of the abacus, Xu Xinlu’s
徐心魯 Counting Procedures for Pearls
on a Plate (Panzhu suanfa 盤珠算法), was
published.
2. The text of the treatise does not contain any
information confirming that it was indeed
authored by Lương Thê´ Vinh, the fifteenth-
century literatus and governmental officer.
3. It is not impossible, however, that the book
may well have been a compilation made
exclusively on the basis of mathematical trea-
tises compiled in China prior to the late fif-
teenth century and later available in Vietnam.
However, the compilation of the treatise
involved a substantial “localization,” that is
  2830
the adaptation of the problems and methods to
local measure units, currency, tax system, as
well as to the names of specific local objects
mentioned in the problems (plants, drugs,
kinds of food, animals).
4. The seeming similarity between certain
methods in the Compendium and in the Chi-
nese treatise Suanfa tongzong 算法統宗
(1592) by Cheng Dawei 程大位 does not nec-
essarily mean that the Vietnamese text was
compiled on the basis of the book of Cheng.
The similarity can be explained by the fact that
Cheng himself based his manual on numerous
mathematical texts compiled in the thirteenth
to sixteenth centuries available to him, firstly
and most importantly, the treatises of Yang
Hui 楊輝 (fl. ca. 1275) and Wu Jing 吳敬
(fl. ca. 1450). It is not impossible that the
compilers of the Compendium also had access
to these treatises, or to other older Chinese
treatises containing similar materials and
later lost.
 
The preliminary exploration of the contents of
the Vietnamese treatise Toán pháp đại thành
presented in Volkov (2002) thus did not permit
a clear picture of its origins. An exploration of the
materials related to the life and activity of its
presumed author, Lương Thê´ Vinh, thus appeared
necessary to establish the origins of the book. The
obtained results of this exploration (Volkov,
2005, 2006) are summarized in the following
section.
 
 
Lương Thê´ Vinh: The Case of a
“Mathematical Agiography”
The biographies of Lương can be provisionally
subdivided into two categories, the “historical
biographies” and the “legendary accounts.” The
“historical biographies” of Lương Thê´ Vinh are
found in the collections of biographies Ðăng
khoa lục 登科錄 (Records of Successful Exam-
inees) by Nguyễn Hoãn 俒 (1712–1791) et al., in
the manuscript entitled 登科錄本 (Manuscript
copy of the Records of Successful Examinees),
and in the treatise Lich đại đại khoa lục 歷代大科
˙
Mathematics in Vietnam
籙 (Records of Great Examinations Through
Generations). All these texts present rather short
descriptions of Lương’s official career and spec-
ify his birthplace and his official duties within the
Hàn l^am 翰林 Academy. The second and third
treatises mention a mathematical book he wrote,
yet provide different titles for the book. The sec-
ond and the third biographies mention Lương’s
diplomatic activities, the details of which, how-
ever, remain unspecified.
The second group of the extant Lương’s biog-
raphies focuses primarily on the supernatural cir-
cumstances of his life and death. A short
description of these biographies is found in
Volkov (2005), and the translation of one of
them is published in Volkov (2006). The prelim-
inary analysis of the legends suggests that the
early legends of Lương were created in two
nonintersecting social circles (that can be dubbed
“Palace” and “Village”), yet both groups of leg-
ends portrayed him as possessing supernatural
powers or divine origin. One can conjecture that
the reason he became associated with mathemat-
ics may have been related to his official duties
during his lifetime such as, for example, his par-
ticipation in diplomatic activities and in military
operations against the Cham, probably related to
his work in cartography, briefly mentioned in
some of his biographies. His legendary capacities
of “counting” and “measuring” (in a broader
sense) in this case would have merged with his
established status of supernatural being and thus
may have made him the patron saint of profes-
sional mathematicians by the early eighteenth
century (Volkov, 2005).
The temple devoted to Lương Thê´ Vinh 梁狀
元祠 located in his native village Cao Hương
(Nam Ðinh Province, Vụ Bản district) hosts the
˙
statue of Lương, his portrait, details of his official
costume (boots and hat), and a number of Impe-
rial edicts related to the establishment and func-
tioning of the temple (Volkov, 2005). The official
portrait of Lương preserved in the temple (Fig. 4)
depicts him as a state functionary without making
any visual reference to the miraculous circum-
stances of his birth and life; only one inscription
mentions a mathematical work he presumably
authored.
  Mathematics in Vietnam 2831
 
missionaries in China in the seventeenth and
eighteenth century, or were not willing to men-
tion them in their texts. Instead, the Vietnamese
mathematical treatises appear rather similar to
the corpus of the “practical” or “popular” Chi-
nese mathematical treatises of the late Yuan
(1279–1368) and Ming dynasties dramatically
different from the high-level mathematical
texts devoted to the higher degree polynomial
algebra of the late Song (960–1279) and early
Yuan dynasties. In Ming dynasty China, tradi-
tional mathematics was transformed into an
applied discipline used for practical ends by
low-level state officials, merchants, and artisans,
while remaining the subject of the research
conducted by isolated scholars without the ideo-
logical and material support of the state. It was
no longer one of the subjects of the state exam-
  inations, as it had been during the Tang (618–
Mathematics in Vietnam, Fig. 4 The portrait of Lương
´ 907) and Song dynasties. In Vietnam, on the
Thê Vinh preserved in his temple, Cao Hương village
  contrary, the discipline remained embedded in
  the framework of the old Chinese-style state
Conclusions education, employed traditional didactic prac-
  tices, and was linked to the bureaucratic hierar-
M
The available materials do not suggest any reli- chy via the system of state mathematics
able picture of traditional Vietnamese mathe- examinations (Volkov, 2014b).
matics prior to the fifteenth century, and no  
 
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Mathematics of the Hebrew People
 
Tony Lévy
 
 
 
A “Hebrew mathematical text” is any text or
work whose language is Hebrew (usually written
in Hebrew characters), and whose content is
mathematical in a narrow sense, that is, does
not include astronomy (apart from relevant
mathematical sections), astrology, or calendar
calculations.
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2833
Apart from a few passages that are to be found
in biblical and postbiblical (rabbinical) literature
and which are relevant to the history of mathe-
matics (number words and fraction words, prac-
tical rules of geometry), the oldest mathematical
tract in Hebrew is the Mishnat ha-Middot, by an
unknown author. This tract gives practical rules
for the measurement of areas and volumes, and
then deals with the measurements (middot) of the
Tabernacle erected by the Jews in the desert. It
has been recently shown that its composition was
probably influenced by the geometrical part of
al-Khwārizmī’s Algebra. This tract remained
unknown to most medieval Jewish scholars and
its Hebrew mathematical terminology was of no
consequence.
Two famous scholars are central in the elev-
enth and twelfth centuries in Spain: Abraham bar
Hiyya (ca. 1065–1145) and ▶ Abraham ibn Ezra
(1092–1167). This period saw the actual birth of
Hebrew mathematics.
Abraham bar Hiyya, also called Savasorda
(latinized from the Arabic ṣāḥib al-shurta),
flourished in Barcelona in Christian Spain, but
was probably educated in the Arabic kingdom
M
of Saragossa. Bar Hiyya wrote books in Hebrew
on mathematics, astronomy, astrology, and phi-
losophy. He clearly indicated that his Hebrew
compositions were written for Jews living in
southern France (in Hebrew, EreṣSarfat) who
were unacquainted with Arabic scientific culture
and unable to read Arabic texts. Bar ḥiyya can
thus rightly be considered the founder of Hebrew
scientific culture and language, and specifically
the father of Hebrew mathematics. We know of
two mathematical compositions by Bar ḥiyya: the
extant parts of a scientific encyclopedia and a
geometrical compilation.
The first of these books, Yesodey ha-Tevuna u-
Migdal ha-Emuna (The Foundations of Science
and the Tower of Faith), is presumably an adap-
tation from some unknown Arabic composition;
the geometrical and arithmetical parts are extant.
The study of its content sheds some light on
eleventh century mathematical literature in West-
ern Islamic lands and its diffusion.
The ḥibbur ha-Meshiḥa we ha-Tishboret (The
Composition on Geometrical Measures) enjoyed