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Shuihudi bamboo strips of the Qin Dynasty and mathematics in Pre-Qin Period

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Frontiers of History in China

Abstract

The Qin laws kept on the bamboo slips unearthed from Tomb No. 11 of the Qin Dynasty at Shuihudi in Yunmeng County have great value for the study on the history of mathematics in Pre-Qin China. Many law texts recorded the severe requirements of the Qin State in the administration concerning accounting and statistics, the conversion rates between various types of foodstuffs and the proportional allotment of foodstuffs, as well as the plans and practices of engineering projets, etc. Comparative studies on the relationships between these severe Laws and the relevant methematical methords of Jiuzhang suanshu lead to such conclusions as: 1) the Qin laws were based upon the foundation of highly developed mathematics; 2) many mathematical methods of Jiuzhang suanshu were produced before the Qin Dynasty; 3) The influence of Legalists on mathematics mostly took place in the Pre-Qin Period or the Qin Dynasty.

摘要

湖北云梦睡虎地11号秦墓出土的秦律竹简, 对研究先秦数学有巨大的价值。 许多简文记载了秦国在会计和统计、 若干粮米的换算比率、 公共事务中粮食的分配, 以及工程计划实施等方面的严苛要求, 系统分析这些法律和《九章算术》中的数学方法, 可得出如下结论: 1、 秦律建立在高度发达的数学基础上; 2、 大多数《九章算术》中的数学方法产生于秦以前; 3、 法家对数学的影响主要发生于先秦或秦代。

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Correspondence to Zou Dahai.

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Translated from Kaogu 考古 (Archaeology), 2005, (6): 57–65

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Zou, D. Shuihudi bamboo strips of the Qin Dynasty and mathematics in Pre-Qin Period. Front. Hist. China 2, 632–654 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11462-007-0030-8

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