Zhu Shijie was an outstanding mathematical scientist of the Yuan Dynasty.
Zhu Shijie, the word Hanqing, the number Songting, Yanshan (now Beijing) people. He has been engaged in mathematics research and education for a long time, and has traveled all over the world for more than 20 years as a famous mathematician. His main works include three volumes of Arithmetic Enlightenment and three volumes of Quaternary Yujian.
Speaking of Zhu Shijie's travels around the world, there is another little-known story here, and we introduce this story to readers.
At the end of the 13th century, the war-torn motherland was unified by the Yuan Dynasty, and the devastated economy and culture soon flourished. In order to prosper the country, the Mongol rulers respected knowledge, selected talents, and pushed various sciences to new heights.
One day, on the shore of the beautiful Slender West Lake in Yangzhou, a teacher came and hung a signboard in front of the apartment, which read: "Mr. Zhu Songting of Yanshan, specializing in teaching four-element arts."
Within a few days, Zhu Shijie was in front of the door, and there was an endless stream of seekers, and when Zhu Shijie was receiving students to sign up, he suddenly shouted and scolded to attract his attention.
I saw a half-old wearing silk and silver, chasing a young girl, beating and scolding: "You cheap woman, you don't catch a lot of silver, do you want to be everyone's lady, I'm afraid that you will cast the wrong baby, don't think about it in the next life." ”
The girl was beaten to the point that her inner clothes were torn. The girl curled up in a ball, let her fight, and would not go back with her. Zhu Shijie saw that the road was uneven, so he stepped forward to ask, and the half-old saw a nosy person appearing, so he sneered: "Do you want to fight unevenly, you give 50 taels of silver, and this girl will be yours!."”
Seeing this scene, Zhu Shijie said angrily: "Can't I take out 50 taels of silver?" In broad daylight, he actually did something wrong, is there no king's law?”
The half-old said sarcastically: "You poor ghost, what kind of royal law are you talking about, silver is royal law, if you can take out 50 taels of silver, I won't fight." Zhu Shijie was extremely angry, grabbed 50 taels of silver from his pocket, fell in front of the half-old, pulled the girl up and returned to his place of teaching.
It turned out that the half-aged MILF was the bustard's mother in the brothel, and the girl's father borrowed 10 taels of silver from the bustard's mother, but due to natural disasters, he couldn't afford to pay back the money, so he had to sell his daughter to pay off the debt. I happened to meet Zhu Shijie today, and I rescued the girl from the sea of suffering.
Later, under Zhu Shijie's careful teaching, this girl also knew some mathematical knowledge and became Zhu Shijie's right-hand man, and within a few years, the two became husband and wife. Therefore, there is still such a sentence among the people of Yangzhou:
Zhu Hanqing of the Yuan Dynasty.
Teaching and educating people.
Save people from the sea of suffering.
Marriage is a big deal.
It is difficult to verify whether the above story is true, but it shows that Zhu Shijie has a loving heart while doing learning.
In addition, Zhu Shijie comprehensively inherited the mathematical achievements of Qin Jiushao, Li Ye and Yang Hui in mathematical science, and gave creative development, writing famous works such as "Enlightenment of Arithmetic" and "Quaternary Yujian", which pushed China's ancient mathematics to a higher realm and formed the highest peak of Chinese mathematics in the Song and Yuan dynasties.
The Enlightenment of Arithmetic was published by Zhu Shijie in the third year of Yuan Chengzong Dade (1299), and the book consists of three volumes, 20 subjects, and a total of 259 questions and corresponding answers.
This book starts with multiplication and division, and continues to talk about the highest achievement in the development of mathematics at that time, "Tianyuanshu", and comprehensively introduces all aspects of mathematics at that time. Its system is complete, the content is simple and easy to understand, and it is a very famous enlightenment book.
This work was later spread to Korea, Japan and other countries, and was published in reprints and annotations, which had a certain influence. And "Quaternary Jade Jian" is a brilliant mathematical masterpiece. It is highly praised by researchers of modern mathematical history and is considered to be the most important and most contributing mathematical masterpiece in ancient Chinese mathematical science works.
Written in the seventh year of Dade (1303), the Quaternary Jade Jian consists of three volumes, 24 courses, and 288 questions, introducing Zhu Shijie's research and achievements in the solution of multiple higher-order equations - quaternion, as well as the calculation of higher-order difference series, stacking and tricking.
"Tian Yuan Shu" is to set "Tian Yuan is so-and-so", that is, so-and-so is x. However, when there is more than one unknown, in addition to the unknown number of heavenly elements (x), it is also necessary to set the earth element (y), the human element (z) and the matter element (u), and then list the binary, ternary or even quaternary systems of higher-order equations, and then solve them.
In Europe, the solution of simultaneous simultaneous equations began in the 16th century, and the study of multivariate higher-order simultaneous equations began in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Another major contribution of Zhu Shijie is the study of "stacking". He studied a series of new series summation problems of stacks, from which he summarized the formula of "triangular stacks", and actually obtained a systematic and universal solution to this kind of arbitrary higher-order difference series summation problem.
Zhu Shijie also quoted the triangular buttress formula into the "trick technique", pointing out that the coefficients in the trick formula are exactly the product of each triangular buttress in turn, so that the trick formula containing four times of difference is obtained.
He also generalized this formula to include any higher order difference, which was the first time in the history of world mathematics, nearly 4 centuries before the same achievement of Newton in Europe.
Because of this, Zhu Shijie and his book "Four Yuan Jade Jian" enjoy great international fame. In modern times, people from Japan, France, the United States, Belgium, and many other countries in Asia, Europe, and the United States have introduced the "Four-Yuan Yujian" to their own countries.
Sutton, the late famous American historian of science, commented on Zhu Shijie as follows:
Zhu Shijie is the most outstanding mathematical scientist of the Chinese nation, the era in which he lived, and the most outstanding mathematical scientist throughout the ages. ”
The Quaternary Jade Jian is the most important of Chinese mathematical works, and it is also one of the most outstanding mathematical works of the Middle Ages. It is a rare treasure in the world's mathematical treasury. ”
From this, it can be seen that the scientists and their writings of the Song and Yuan dynasties played an immeasurable role in the history of mathematics in the world.
In addition to the above achievements, Zhu Shijie also put forward many noteworthy contents in his book:
1.For the first time in the history of Chinese mathematics, he formally proposed the correct rule of multiplication of positive and negative numbers
2.He made a speech on the calculation of the surface area of a sphere, which is the only discussion in the Chinese algebraic classics. Although the conclusion is incorrect, the spirit of innovation is valuable;
3.In "Enlightenment of Arithmetic", he recorded the complete formula of "Nine Returns and Divisions", which is almost exactly the same as the abacus division formula that is now circulating.
In short, Zhu Shijie inherited and developed the mathematical achievements of his predecessors and made indelible contributions to the development of ancient mathematical science in China. Zhu Shijie is worthy of being a famous mathematician in the history of mathematics in China and even in the world.
Thanks to the joint efforts of Zhu Shijie and other contemporaries of mathematicians, mathematics in the Song and Yuan dynasties reached a glorious height and ranked among the top in the world in many aspects.
Since Zhu Shijie, China's highly developed situation in mathematics has not only not been maintained, but many achievements have been lost in the Ming and Qing dynasties. This is a regrettable event in the history of science.