The Rise of Explication in the Mathematics of Late Imperial China

The University of Washington East Asia Center presents Jeff Chen speaking on teh topic of mathematics in late imperial China.

In the textual tradition of Chinese mathematics, reasoning or explanation did not figure prominently with few exceptions. This long-held practice of not including explanations in mathematical works was especially prevalent in treatises composed during the Ming dynasty (1368–1644). This began to change, however, in the first part of the 17th century when the Jesuits and their Chinese collaborators embarked on various projects to translate European scientific thought into Chinese. By the end of the 17th century, explanations of underlying principles, or steps in computational algorithms, became a fixture in the main text of most treatises. In this presentation, the comparison will be made of mathematical works in three categories: Ming treatises composed before the arrival of the Jesuits, geometric texts that attempt to make translated works more accessible, and those on traditional subjects with ample explanation in the main texts.

Jeff Chen is an Associate Professor of Mathematics at St. Cloud State University where he was recently the recipient of a William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Grant for research in China. He has also previously received recognition from the Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.