What is the nine-chapter algorithm?

Nine Chapters Arithmetic is a mathematical monograph written by Zhang Cang and Geng Shouchang in ancient China. It is the most important of the ten classic calculations, which was written in the first century AD. ..

Its author can no longer be examined. It is generally believed that it has gradually become the final version after several generations of supplement and modification. Zhang Cang and Geng Shouchang in the Western Han Dynasty had been supplemented and sorted out, and they were generally finalized at that time. The last book was in the early years of the Eastern Han Dynasty at the latest, and most of them were Notes to Nine Chapters written by Wei Yuan, Jing Yuan and Liu Hui in the Three Kingdoms Period (263).

Creation background

Nine Chapters Arithmetic is a mathematical monograph in ancient China, and it is the most important one among the "Ten Arithmetic Classics" (ten ancient arithmetic books that appeared between Han and Tang Dynasties). Liu Hui commented on "Nine Chapters Arithmetic" in Wei and Jin Dynasties, saying: "The Duke of Zhou made a ceremony, and there were nine numbers, while nine chapters were a ceremony." He also said, "Zhang Cang, Hou Peiping in Han Dynasty, and Geng Shouchang, a senior farmer, all made good use of fortune telling. Because of the remnants of old texts, Cang and others each called it deletion and supplement, so the purpose of the school is different from ancient times or today, and the theory is closer. "

According to textual research, Zhang Cang and Geng Shouchang in the Western Han Dynasty have made supplements. The final edition was written in the early Eastern Han Dynasty at the latest, but its basic content was basically finalized in the late Western Han Dynasty.