Chinese mathematics
Mathematics emerged independently in China by the 11th century BCE. The Chinese independently developed a real number system that includes significantly large and negative numbers, more than one numeral system, algebra, geometry, number theory and trigonometry.
Since the Han dynasty, as diophantine approximation being a prominent numerical method, the Chinese made substantial progress on polynomial evaluation. Algorithms like regula falsi and expressions like simple continued fractions are widely used and have been well-documented ever since. They deliberately find the principal nth root of positive numbers and the roots of equations. The major texts from the period, The Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art and the Book on Numbers and Computation gave detailed processes for solving various mathematical problems in daily life. All procedures were computed using a counting board in both texts, and they included inverse elements as well as Euclidean divisions. The texts provide procedures similar to that of Gaussian elimination and Horner's method for linear algebra. The achievement of Chinese algebra reached a zenith in the 13th century during the Yuan dynasty with the development of tian yuan shu.
As a result of obvious linguistic and geographic barriers, as well as content, Chinese mathematics and the mathematics of the ancient Mediterranean world are presumed to have developed more or less independently up to the time when The Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art reached its final form, while the Book on Numbers and Computation and Huainanzi are roughly contemporary with classical Greek mathematics. Some exchange of ideas across Asia through known cultural exchanges from at least Roman times is likely. Frequently, elements of the mathematics of early societies correspond to rudimentary results found later in branches of modern mathematics such as geometry or number theory. The Pythagorean theorem for example, has been attested to the time of the Duke of Zhou. Knowledge of Pascal's triangle has also been shown to have existed in China centuries before Pascal, such as the Song-era polymath Shen Kuo.
Pre-imperial era
. One of the oldest surviving mathematical works is the I Ching, which greatly influenced written literature during the Zhou dynasty. For mathematics, the book included a sophisticated use of hexagrams. Leibniz pointed out, the I Ching contained elements of binary numbers.Since the Shang period, the Chinese had already fully developed a decimal system. Since early times, Chinese understood basic arithmetic, algebra, equations, and negative numbers with counting rods. Although the Chinese were more focused on arithmetic and advanced algebra for astronomical uses, they were also the first to develop negative numbers, algebraic geometry, and the usage of decimals.
Math was one of the Six Arts students were required to master during the Zhou dynasty. Learning them all perfectly was required to be a perfect gentleman, comparable to the concept of a "renaissance man". Six Arts have their roots in the Confucian philosophy.
The oldest existent work on geometry in China comes from the philosophical Mohist canon, compiled by the followers of Mozi. The Mo Jing described various aspects of many fields associated with physical science, and provided a small wealth of information on mathematics as well. It provided an 'atomic' definition of the geometric point, stating that a line is separated into parts, and the part which has no remaining parts and thus forms the extreme end of a line is a point. Much like Euclid's first and third definitions and Plato's 'beginning of a line', the Mo Jing stated that "a point may stand at the end or at its beginning like a head-presentation in childbirth. there is nothing similar to it." Similar to the atomists of Democritus, the Mo Jing stated that a point is the smallest unit, and cannot be cut in half, "since 'nothing' cannot be halved." It stated that " same length, means that two straight lines finish at the same place", while providing definitions for the comparison of lengths and for parallels, along with principles of space and bounded space. It also described the fact that planes without the quality of thickness cannot be piled up since they cannot mutually touch. The book provided word recognition for circumference, diameter, and radius, along with the definition of volume.
The history of mathematical development lacks some evidence. There are still debates about certain mathematical classics. For example, the Zhoubi Suanjing dates around 1200–1000 BC, yet many scholars believed it was written between 300 and 250 BCE. The Zhoubi Suanjing contains an in-depth proof of the Gougu Theorem, but focuses more on astronomical calculations. However, the recent archaeological discovery of the Tsinghua Bamboo Slips, dated, has revealed some aspects of pre-Qin mathematics, such as the first known decimal multiplication table.
The abacus was first mentioned in the second century BC, alongside 'calculation with rods' in which small bamboo sticks are placed in successive squares of a checkerboard.
Qin dynasty
Not much is known about Qin dynasty mathematics, or before, due to the burning of books and burying of scholars, circa 213–210 BC. Knowledge of this period can be determined from civil projects and historical evidence. The Qin dynasty created a standard system of weights. Civil projects of the Qin dynasty were significant feats of human engineering. Emperor Qin Shi Huang ordered many men to build large, life-sized statues for the palace tomb along with other temples and shrines, and the shape of the tomb was designed with geometric skills of architecture. It is certain that one of the greatest feats of human history, the Great Wall of China, required many mathematical techniques. All Qin dynasty buildings and grand projects used advanced computation formulas for volume, area and proportion.Qin bamboo cash purchased at the antiquarian market of Hong Kong by the Yuelu Academy, according to the preliminary reports, contains the earliest epigraphic sample of a mathematical treatise.
Han dynasty
In the Han dynasty, numbers were developed into a place value decimal system and used on a counting board with a set of counting rods called rod calculus, consisting of only nine symbols with a blank space on the counting board representing zero. Negative numbers and fractions were also incorporated into solutions of the great mathematical texts of the period. The mathematical texts of the time, the Book on Numbers and Computation and Jiuzhang suanshu solved basic arithmetic problems such as addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Furthermore, they gave the processes for square and cubed root extraction, which eventually was applied to solving quadratic equations up to the third order. Both texts also made substantial progress in Linear Algebra, namely solving systems of equations with multiple unknowns. The value of pi is taken to be equal to three in both texts. However, the mathematicians Liu Xin and Zhang Heng gave more accurate approximations for pi than Chinese of previous centuries had used. Mathematics was developed to solve practical problems in the time such as division of land or problems related to division of payment. The Chinese did not focus on theoretical proofs based on geometry or algebra in the modern sense of proving equations to find area or volume. The Book of Computations and The Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art provide numerous practical examples that would be used in daily life.''Book on Numbers and Computation''
The Book on Numbers and Computation is approximately seven thousand characters in length, written on 190 bamboo strips. It was discovered together with other writings in 1984 when archaeologists opened a tomb at Zhangjiashan in Hubei province. From documentary evidence this tomb is known to have been closed in 186 BC, early in the Western Han dynasty. While its relationship to the Nine Chapters is still under discussion by scholars, some of its contents are clearly paralleled there. The text of the Suan shu shu is however much less systematic than the Nine Chapters, and appears to consist of a number of more or less independent short sections of text drawn from a number of sources.The Book of Computations contains many prerequisites to problems that would be expanded upon in The Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art. An example of the elementary mathematics in the Suàn shù shū, the square root is approximated by using false position method which says to "combine the excess and deficiency as the divisor; the deficiency numerator multiplied by the excess denominator and the excess numerator times the deficiency denominator, combine them as the dividend." Furthermore, The Book of Computations solves systems of two equations and two unknowns using the same false position method.
''The Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art''
The Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art dates archeologically to 179 CE, though it is traditionally dated to 1000 BCE, but it was written perhaps as early as 300–200 BCE. Although the author are unknown, they made a major contribution in the eastern world. Problems are set up with questions immediately followed by answers and procedure. There are no formal mathematical proofs within the text, just a step-by-step procedure. The commentary of Liu Hui provided geometrical and algebraic proofs to the problems given within the text.The Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art was one of the most influential of all Chinese mathematical books and it is composed of 246 problems. It was later incorporated into The Ten Computational Canons, which became the core of mathematical education in later centuries. This book includes 246 problems on surveying, agriculture, partnerships, engineering, taxation, calculation, the solution of equations, and the properties of right triangles. The Nine Chapters made significant additions to solving quadratic equations in a way similar to Horner's method. It also made advanced contributions to fangcheng, or what is now known as linear algebra. Chapter seven solves system of linear equations with two unknowns using the false position method, similar to The Book of Computations. Chapter eight deals with solving determinate and indeterminate simultaneous linear equations using positive and negative numbers, with one problem dealing with solving four equations in five unknowns. The Nine Chapters solves systems of equations using methods similar to the modern Gaussian elimination and back substitution.
The version of The Nine Chapters that has served as the foundation for modern renditions was a result of the efforts of the scholar Dai Zhen. Transcribing the problems directly from Yongle Encyclopedia, he then proceeded to make revisions to the original text, along with the inclusion his own notes explaining his reasoning behind the alterations. His finished work would be first published in 1774, but a new revision would be published in 1776 to correct various errors as well as include a version of The Nine Chapters from the Southern Song that contained the commentaries of Lui Hui and Li Chunfeng. The final version of Dai Zhen's work would come in 1777, titled Ripple Pavilion, with this final rendition being widely distributed and coming to serve as the standard for modern versions of The Nine Chapters. However, this version has come under scrutiny from Guo Shuchen, alleging that the edited version still contains numerous errors and that not all of the original amendments were done by Dai Zhen himself.