HISTORY OF MATHEMATICS

Ancient and medieval china

 1. Areas and Volumes
Geometry
 For the area of a circle, the Chinese presented several versions.
 For example:
 There is a round field whose circumference is 181 yards and whose diameter is 60 1/3
yards. What is the area of the field? Answer: 2730 1/12 square yards.
 Chinese scribe stated not one but four separate formulas by which the calculation of
area could be made:
 1. The rule is: Half of the circumference and half of the diameter are multiplied
together to give the area.
 2. Another rule is: The circumference and the diameter are multiplied together, then
the result is divided by 4.
 3. Another rule is: The diameter is multiplied by itself. Multiply the result by 3 and then
divide by 4.
 4. Another rule is: The circumference is multiplied by itself. Then divide the result by 12.
 Of course, given that π is taken to be 3, all of the formulas are equivalent. We
also note that it is the fourth rule that is the same as the usual Babylonian rule.
 On the other hand, Liu Hui, in his own commentary, noted that the value “3”
for the ratio of circumference to diameter must be incorrect. He did it in the
context of the area situation, where the Chinese formula for the area of a
circle of radius 1 is 3, but where he could easily calculate that the area of a
regular dodecagon inscribed in that circle is also 3.
 We can describe Lui’s argument by looking at an inscribed regular n-gon in a
circle of radius r.
𝑐𝑛 2 𝑐𝑛 2
 𝑎𝑛 = 𝑟2 − and 𝑐2𝑛 = + 𝑟 − 𝑎𝑛 2
2 2

 Then
1 𝑐𝑛 1
 𝑠2𝑛 = 2𝑛 2 𝑟 = 2 𝑛𝑟𝑐𝑛
2
 Liu calculated S2n for n = 96 in the case of r = 10 to
 be 314 64/625 , equivalent to a value for π of
 3.141024, and then noted that it is “convenient” to
 take 3.14 as an approximation to π and neglect the fractional part.
 2. The Pythagorean Theorem and Surveying
 The Nine Chapters and other ancient Chinese documents assume known the
Pythagorean Theorem.
 Zhao Shuang’s argument is as follows:
 The base and altitude are each multiplied by themselves. Add to make the
hypotenuse area. Take the square root, and this is the hypotenuse. In
accordance with the hypotenuse diagram, you may further multiply the base
and altitude together to make two of the red areas. Double this to make four of
the red areas. Multiply the difference of the base and the altitude by itself to
make the central yellow area. If one [such] difference area is added [to the four
red areas], the hypotenuse area is completed.
 In essence, Zhao seems to be arguing that
 𝑐 2 = 𝑎2 + 𝑏2 = 𝑎 − 𝑏 2 + 2𝑎𝑏.
 Solving Equations
 The Chinese used two basic algorithms to solve systems of linear
equations. For equations of higher degree, they developed various
procedures for solving them numerically.
1. Systems of Linear Equations
The first method, used chiefly for solving problems we would
translate into systems of two equations in two unknowns, is called
the method of surplus and deficiency.
 The methodology, today called the method of “double false
position,” begins with the “guessing” of possible solutions and
concludes by adjusting the guess to get the correct solution. Its use
showed that the Chinese understood the concept of a linear
relationship.
 Example:
 The price of 1 acre of good land is 300 pieces of gold; the price of 7 acres of
bad land is 500. One has purchased altogether 100 acres; the price was
10,000. How much good land was bought and how much bad? A modern
translation of this problem would be as a system of two equations in two
unknowns:
𝑥 + 𝑦 = 100
500
300𝑥 + 𝑥 = 10.000
7
 The Chinese rule for the solution states: “Suppose there are 20 acres of good
2
land and 80 of bad. Then the surplus is 1714 . If there are 10 acres of good
7
3
land and 90 of bad, the deficiency is 571 .” The solution procedure, as
7
3 2
explained by the Chinese author, is then to multiply 20 by 571 , 10 by 1714 ,
7 7
2 3
add the products, and finally divide this sum by the sum of 1714 and 571 .
7 7
1
The result, 12 acres, is the amount of good land. The amount of bad land,
2
1
87 acres, is then easily found.
2
 We can express the algorithm by the formula
𝑏1 𝑥2 + 𝑏2 𝑥1
𝑥=
𝑏1 + 𝑏2
where b1 is the surplus determined by the guess x1 and b2 is the deficiency
determined by the guess x2. One conjecture as to how this algorithm was found
begins by noting that the change from the correct but unknown x to the guessed
value 20 involves a change in the value of the “function” 300x + (500/7)y of 1714
2/7 , while a change from 10 to x involves a change in the function value of 571
3/7.
 A second method of solving systems of linear equations,
again by presenting various examples with slightly different
twists. In this case, however, the modern methods are no
simpler. In fact, the Chinese solution procedure is virtually
identical to the method of Gaussian elimination and is
presented in matrix form on a counting board.
 Example : “There are three classes of grain, of which three
bundles of the first class, two of the second, and one of
the third make 39 measures. Two of the first, three of the
second, and one of the third make 34 measures. And one
of the first, two of the second, and three of the third make
26 measures. How many measures of grain are contained
in one bundle of each class?” The problem can be
translated into modern terms as the system
 3x + 2y + z = 39
2x + 3y + z = 34
x + 2y + 3z = 26
 The algorithm for the solution is then stated: “Arrange the 3, 2, and 1 bundles of the
three classes and the 39 measures of their grains at the right. Arrange other
conditions at the middle and at the left.” This arrangement is presented in the
diagram below:
1 2 3
2 3 2
3 1 1
26 34 39