When did the ancient Chinese start to use numerals?
Describe their numeral system. Jake Hill Chinese astonomical records have been dated back to the second millennium B.C. and by 1400 B.C. the Chinese had developed a positional number system with nine symbols. However, due to the moist environment (compared to the Near East) and the perishable writing materials (bamboo and silk) most written work from the early Far East cultures has been destroyed. The earliest known mathematical work from China is the “Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Arts” dated 15 B.C. (p24). The text describes a fifth century Chinese numeral system as a “vertically written multiplicative grouping system based on powers of 10”. (p27) This system has symbols for numbers 1-9 as well as powers of 10. To western eyes, our number 6,372,512 would be written top down as (6*1,000,000) + (3*100,000) + (7*10,000) + (2*1,000) + (5*100) + (10) + 2. The zero was not introduced until the 13th century and was then used as a placeholder. 8. When did the ancient Mayan civilization f
