division, identical to Sunzi The book is divided into three chapters.
Chapter 1 Chapter 1 discusses measurement units of length, weight and capacity, and the rules of
counting rods. Although counting rods were in use in the
Spring and Autumn period and there were many ancient books on mathematics such as
Book on Numbers and Computation and
The Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art, no detailed account of the rules was given. For the first time,
The Mathematical Classic of Sun Zi provided a detail description of the rules of counting rods: "one must know the position of the counting rods, the units are vertical, the tens horizontal, the hundreds stand, the thousands prostrate", followed by the detailed layout and rules for manipulation of the counting rods in addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division with ample examples.
Chapter 2 Chapter 2 deals with operational rules for fractions with rod numerals: the reduction, addition, subtraction, and division of fractions, followed by mechanical algorithm for the
extraction of square roots.
Chapter 3 Chapter 3 contains the earliest example of the
Chinese remainder theorem, a key tool to understanding and resolving
Diophantine equations. == Bibliography ==