Tian yuan shu

Tian yuan shu

Tian yuan shu (simplified Chinese: 天元术; traditional Chinese: 天元術; pinyin: tiān yuán shù) is a special way to solve math problems called polynomial equations. These are a type of algebra problem. It was created by Chinese mathematicians and is a part of algebra. Some of the oldest writings about this method are from the 13th century, during the Yuan dynasty.

Even though the oldest writings are from that time, people knew about this method earlier, during the Song dynasty. This shows that Chinese mathematicians were very clever and good at solving hard math problems a long time ago. The tian yuan shu method helped them find answers to equations that were difficult to solve with the math they had back then.

History

The Tianyuanshu was explained in the writings of Zhu Shijie (Jade Mirror of the Four Unknowns) and Li Zhi (Ceyuan haijing), two Chinese mathematicians during the Mongol Yuan dynasty. Their work helped create new ways to solve math problems.

Later, when a new dynasty took over, people did not use their ideas much. But in modern times, people in China began to study these old methods again. The tianyuanshu also went to Japan, where it helped grow Japanese math in the 1600s and 1700s.

Description

Tian yuan shu means "method of the heavenly element" or "technique of the celestial unknown". The "heavenly element" is the unknown variable, usually written x today.

It is a system that uses rod numerals to show polynomial equations. For example, 2_x_² + 18_x_ − 316 = 0 is shown in a special way. The line with the unknown x shows 18_x_, the line below shows the constant number (-316), and the line above shows the coefficient of the quadratic term (x²). This system can handle high exponents of the unknown by adding more lines above or below.