ESHS/HSS Annual Meeting

Recent Archaeological Excavations: New Light on Ancient Chinese Mathematics 1

Session Submission Type: Organized Session

English Abstract

Until recently the earliest Chinese mathematical work devoted exclusively to mathematics was the first-century BCE 九章筭術 Jiuzhang suanshu (Nine Chapters on the Art of Mathematics). But this survives with its first detailed commentary by the third-century CE mathematician Liu Hui only in a partial version printed in the Song dynasty. However, recent archaeological excavations have begun to complete a previously all too fragmentary picture of mathematics in ancient China prior to the appearance of the Nine Chapters. Among the records this Symposium devoted to the most recent archaeological finds will explore are Qin dynasty works on bamboo slips, the Yuelu Academy’s 数 Shu (Mathematics) and the Peking University trove including the 算书 Suanshu (Mathematics Books A, B, and C); and Western Han books on bamboo slips, the 算数书 Suanshu shu (Book on Numbers and Computations) from 张家山 Zhangjiashan, the 算术书 Suanshu shu (Book on Computational Methods) from 阜阳 Fuyang in Anhui province, and the 算术 Suanshu (Computational Methods) slips from Shuihudi. Additionally, there are calculation tables, various nine-nine rhymes, and other documents related to mathematical computations. Together, these recently unearthed documents contain a great deal of new content that is not found anywhere in traditional mathematical documents from early China. This symposium will investigate the most innovative methods and mathematically significant developments to be found in these materials in order to shed new light and suggest new ways of understanding previous research findings on early Chinese mathematics.

Sub Unit

• Organized Session

Chair

• Joseph W Dauben, City University of New York

Individual Presentations

• Comparing the Mathematical texts of the Qin-Han periods in China: the Suanshu-shu, the Shu, and the Suan-shu - Makoto TAMURA, Osaka Sangyo University, Osaka, Japan

• Two Nine-Nines Rhymes Excavated at Gurendi and Well No. 6 at Tuzishan: Collations and Related Issues - Xulin ZHOU, Institute for Excavated Manuscripts of the School of Chinese Language and Literature at Southwest Minzu University, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China

• A Comprehensive Study of the Mathematical Book B on the Qin Bamboo Slips Preserved at Peking University (with XIA Qingzhuo 夏𢋣卓) - Dahai ZOU, Institute for History of Natural Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences

Session Organizers

• Joseph W Dauben, City University of New York

• Dahai ZOU, Institute for History of Natural Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences