The Suàn shù shū, “Writings on Reckoning”: Rewriting the History of Early Chinese Mathematics in the Light of an Excavated Manuscript (2007)
The Suàn shù shu is an ancient Chinese collection of writings on mathematics approximately 7000 characters in length, written on 190 bamboo strips, recovered from a tomb that appears to have been closed in 186 B.C. This anonymous collection is not a single coherent book, but is made up of approximately 69 independent sections of text, which appear to have been assembled from a variety of sources. Problems treated range from elementary calculations with fractions to applications of the Rule of False Position and finding the volumes of various solid shapes. The Suàn shù shu is now the earliest datable extensive Chinese material on mathematics. This paper discusses its relation to ancient works known through scribal transmission, such as the so-called Nine Chapters, Jiu? zhang suàn shù , which is first mentioned in connection with events around A.D. 100, but may have been compiled about a century earlier. It is proposed that the evolution of Chinese mathematical literature in the centuries that separate these two texts may be understood through comparison with what is known to have taken place during that time in another area of Chinese technical literature, that of medicine.
...MoreSimilar Citations
Book
Qu, Anjing;
(2005)
Zhongguo li fa yu shu xue
(/isis/citation/CBB000630904/)
Article
Wang, Qingjian;
Zhang, Xinli;
(2005)
Numeration in Suanshushu
(/isis/citation/CBB000630884/)
Article
Yan, Xue-min;
Hua, Guo-dong;
(2008)
A Comparative Study between Chinese and Hindu scholars on the Calculational Methods of Spheral Area and Volume
(/isis/citation/CBB000952290/)
Book
Martzloff, Jean-Claude;
(2009)
Le calendrier chinois: Structure et calculs, 104 av. JC-1644: Indétermination céleste et réforme permanente: La construction chinoise officielle du temps quotidien discret à partir d'un temps mathématique caché, linéaire et continu
(/isis/citation/CBB001220030/)
Article
Duan, Yao-yong;
Zhou, Chang;
(2012)
The Master Liu Hui in the View of Mathematical Aesthetic Characters
(/isis/citation/CBB001250711/)
Article
Tegus, ;
(2004)
Another possible zhuishu to approximate pi
(/isis/citation/CBB000401197/)
Article
Zhu, Yiwen;
(2009)
Further Discussion on the Reduction of Fractions to a Common Denominator in Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art
(/isis/citation/CBB000933765/)
Article
Chemla, Karine Carole;
(2010)
Changes and Continuities in the Use of Diagrams Tu in Chinese Mathematical Writings (Third Century to Fourteenth Century)
(/isis/citation/CBB001035000/)
Article
Wang, Youjun;
(2009)
Hands-On Mathematics: Two Cases from Ancient Chinese Mathematics
(/isis/citation/CBB001032848/)
Article
Dahai Zou;
(2017)
An Elementary Study of the Unearthed Mathematics Book, Suanshu Shu
(/isis/citation/CBB378241867/)
Article
Deng, Ke-hui;
Yuan, Min;
(2007)
A Comparison of Some Problems about the Observation and Calculation of the Angle between the Ecliptic and the Equator in Ancient China and Greece
(/isis/citation/CBB000760538/)
Article
Duan, Yaoyong;
(2004)
Discussing on the Zengcheng's Method of Extraction and JIA Xian's Arithmetical Triangle
(/isis/citation/CBB000401219/)
Article
Chen, Kai-xian;
(2006)
A procedural interpretation of the counter of China and Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Arts
(/isis/citation/CBB000780276/)
Article
Chemla, Karine;
(2009)
On Mathematical Problems as Historically Determined Artifacts: Reflections Inspired by Sources from Ancient China
(/isis/citation/CBB000953051/)
Article
Zou, Dahai;
(2007)
The Method of Excess and Deficiency in Early China: An Investigation on the Basis of the Problems of Excess and Deficiency in the Suanshushu
(/isis/citation/CBB000933483/)
Book
Hart, Roger;
(2011)
The Chinese Roots of Linear Algebra
(/isis/citation/CBB001031328/)
Article
Xu, Jun;
(2004)
Curt discusses Fang Zhongtong's Sisuan research and characteristics
(/isis/citation/CBB000401195/)
Book
Roderich Ptak;
(2009)
Tiere im alten China: Studien zur Kulturgeschichte
(/isis/citation/CBB213253022/)
Article
Qian, Wei;
(2007)
New Research on Bin-tie
(/isis/citation/CBB000933473/)
Article
Qu, Anjing;
Yuan, Min;
Tang, Quan;
(2007)
Astronomical Meaning of Algorithms by Ancient Chinese Mathematical Astronomers
(/isis/citation/CBB000933461/)
Be the first to comment!