This article documents the reasoning in a mathematical work by Mei Wending, one of the most prolific mathematicians in seventeenth-century China. Based on an analysis of the mathematical content, we present Mei’s systematic treatment of this particular genre of problems, fangcheng, and his efforts to refute the traditional practices in works that appeared earlier. His arguments were supported by the epistemological values he utilized to establish his system and refute the flaws in the traditional approaches. Moreover, in the context of the competition between the Chinese and Western approaches to mathematics, Mei was motivated to demonstrate that the genre of fangcheng problems was purely a “Chinese” achievement, not discussed by the Jesuits. Mei’s motivations were mostly expressed primarily in the prefaces to his works, in his correspondence with other scholars, in synopses of his poems, and in biographical records of some of his contemporaries.
...More
Chapter
Catherine Jami;
(2013)
La carrière de Mei Wending (1633-1721) et le statut des sciences mathématiques dans le savoir lettré
(/isis/citation/CBB558549518/)
Book
Jami, Catherine;
(2012)
The Emperor's New Mathematics: Western Learning and Imperial Authority during the Kangxi Reign (1662--1722)
(/isis/citation/CBB001250505/)
Thesis
Ping-Ying Chang;
(2015)
Chinese Hereditary Mathematician Families of the Astronomical Bureau, 1620–1850
(/isis/citation/CBB621834765/)
Article
Wang, Quan-lai;
(2008)
A Typical Example of Mathematical Education during the Late Qing Dynasty: The Influence of Li Shanlan's Mathematical Work on Yang Zhaojun's Work
(/isis/citation/CBB000952330/)
Article
Jami, Catherine;
Han, Qi;
(2003)
The Reconstruction of Imperial Mathematics in China During the Kangxi Reign (1622--1722)
(/isis/citation/CBB000470589/)
Article
Tian, Miao;
(1999)
Jiegenfang, Tianyuan, and Daishu: Algebra in Qing China
(/isis/citation/CBB000330319/)
Article
Yiwen Zhu;
(2018)
How Were Western Written Calculations Introduced into China? — An Analysis of the Tongwen Suanzhi (arithmetic Guidance in the Common Language, 1613)
(/isis/citation/CBB783207882/)
Book
Hart, Roger;
(2011)
The Chinese Roots of Linear Algebra
(/isis/citation/CBB001031328/)
Article
Knobloch, Eberhard;
(2006)
Beyond Cartesian Limits: Leibniz's Passage from Algebraic to “Transcendental” Mathematics
(/isis/citation/CBB000670257/)
Article
Watanabe, Junsei;
(2005)
A Manchu Manuscript on Arithmetic Owned by Tôyô Bunko: “suwan fa yuwan ben bithe”
(/isis/citation/CBB000651327/)
Article
Li, Zhaohua;
(2006)
An Investigation on the Suanxue Keyi in the Late Qing Dynasty
(/isis/citation/CBB001020787/)
Book
Ori Sela;
(2018)
China's Philological Turn: Scholars, Textualism, and the Dao in the Eighteenth Century
(/isis/citation/CBB127543370/)
Article
Deng, Ke-hui;
Yang, Kun;
(2012)
The Mathematical Problems in Mathematical Collections in China
(/isis/citation/CBB001250702/)
Article
Wang, Quanlai;
Cao, Shucun;
(2004)
The Introduction to Bi Suan Shuxue's content
(/isis/citation/CBB000401192/)
Article
Guo, Shirong;
Li, Di;
(2004)
The Background of the Discussion about Mathematics between the Chinese He Guozhu and the Korean Hong Chôngha
(/isis/citation/CBB000401194/)
Chapter
Andrea Bréard;
Annick Horiuchi;
(2014)
History of Mathematics Education in East Asia in Premodern Times
(/isis/citation/CBB183789002/)
Article
Chu, Pingyi;
(2011)
Zhang Yongjing: A Strenuous Proponent of the Chinese Calendrical Methods
(/isis/citation/CBB001210067/)
Article
Li, Di;
(2003)
Cases studies of practical works of mathematics in the Qing dynasty
(/isis/citation/CBB000340135/)
Article
Pollet, Charlotte-V.;
(2014)
The Influence of Qing Dynasty Editorial Work on the Modern Interpretation of Mathematical Sources: The Case of Li Rui's Edition of Li Ye's Mathematical Treatises
(/isis/citation/CBB001420414/)
Article
Tegus, ;
(2001)
Why Chinese had to give up Qing-times series
(/isis/citation/CBB000340128/)
Be the first to comment!