Makers
Mathematician
Mathematicians known for circle division, equations, the tianyuan method and other algorithms
21people
In a calculation room, a wide table holds a board of black and yellow counting rods laid in neat bundles, beside an abacus, a ruler and a sheet with a circle divided into equal parts; one person sits at a far desk with their back turned, and terraced fields lie outside.
Mathematicians are people known for mathematics, with work on calculating pi, areas and volumes, equations and the tianyuan method of setting up equations. In the Tang, ten early treatises were chosen as textbooks for the state academy, later known as the Ten Mathematical Classics, and in the Qing some scholars brought Chinese and Western methods together. Their methods centre on counting-rod calculation and step-by-step procedures. They differ from scientists in that calculation and deduction are their main achievement, not the observation of nature.
People in this role
- Zhang CangBirth unknown–152 BCE
- Zhao ShuangDates unknown; Three Kingdoms period
- Liu HuiDates unknown; annotated the Nine Chapters in 263
- Zu GengDates unknown; active in the early 6th century
- Zhen Luan535 CE–death unknown
- Li Chunfeng602 CE–670 CE
- Wang XiaotongDates unknown; early Tang
- Jia XianDates unknown; reign of Emperor Renzong of Song
- Qin Jiushao1208 CE–c. 1261 CE (birth by another account 1202)
- Yang HuiDates unknown; wrote between 1261 and 1275
- Wang Xun1235 CE–1281 CE
- Zhu ShijieDates unknown; works printed in 1299 and 1303
- Mei Wending1633 CE–1721 CE
- Minggatuc. 1692 CE–c. 1763 CE
- Jiao Xun1763 CE–1820 CE
- Wang Lai1768 CE–1813 CE
- Wang Zhenyi1768 CE–1797 CE
- Dong Youcheng1791 CE–1823 CE
- Li Shanlan1811 CE–1882 CE
- Zou Boqi1819 CE–1869 CE
- Hua Hengfang1833 CE–1902 CE
No people in this role for that dynasty.