At various stages of Japanese history, mathematics developed as a direct consequence of contacts with foreign cultures, both Chinese and Western. Five successive waves of cultural influx may be delineated (1) Chinese wave I, from the seventh to the end of the ninth century; (2) Chinese wave II, from the end of the sixteenth to the mid‐nineteenth century; (3) Western wave I, 1543–1639; (4) Western wave II, 1720–1854, and (5) Western wave III, from 1854 onwards. Footnote 1
As far as may be surmised, the two Chinese waves developed independently and were separated by an interim period of semi‐seclusion from continental influences during which Japanese mathematical activity subsided.
During Chinese wave I, Japanese mathematics did not depart significantly from that developed in China during the same period. This was also the case in Sui (589–618) Footnote 2 and Tang (618–907) Footnote 3China. Japanese imperial authorities are said to have founded an elite school for training future...
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Notes
- 1.
This mode of periodization is borrowed from Sugimoto and Swain (1978).
- 2.
The short-lived Sui dynasty inaugurates a period of relative stability characterized by the unification of China after several centuries of disunion.
- 3.
The Tang dynasty is one of the most brilliant in Chinese history where the Chinese were able to extend their influence all over Asia, from Iran, Central Asia, India, and of course Japan.
- 4.
Because the ideograms composing his names are liable to be read in two ways, only the first reading is correct, however.
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Martzloff, J. (2008). Mathematics in Japan. In: Selin, H. (eds) Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-4425-0_8742
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