Yang Hui

-A Chinese mathematician
 Biography
• This notable Chinese mathematician was born in 1238
AD in Hang Prefecture, China. He was officially
addressed as Qianguang and was a mandarin. The most
significant part of his contribution that stands him out
from others emerged from the remarkable recognition
of his mathematical works gains in today’s world; his
work is considered as a masterpiece. During his
lifetime, He had the privilege of being under the
tutorage of Liu I, who was a native of Chung-shan.
 Mathematical contributions:
The invention of Hui’s Triangle is one of his mind-blowing contributions. His works are
mentioned in the Wenyan ge Shumu (Catalogue of the Books of the Ming Imperial Library,
1441).
Ruan Yuan, who was also a reputable Chinese mathematician, found the fragments of Yang’s
work “Xiangjie jiuzhang suanfa” (A Detailed Analysis of the Nine Chapters on the
Mathematical Procedures, 1261) in a handwritten copy of a majestic Ming dynasty
encyclopedia. Later, he discovered an edition of Yang Hui suanfa, which was also referred to as
Yang Hui’s Mathematical Methods, 1275) in Suzhou, and that was when he started the magic
circles, magic squares, and the binomial theorem.
His books are part of the few modern Chinese mathematics works that are sustained till-date.
Though he authored a couple of books but had only two of his publications to limelight, these
are; the “Xugu Zhaiqi” and the “Suanfa Tongbian Benmo.”
Yang Hui’s Triangle

The Triangle is a prestigious invention

for most mathematical work that deals
with the operation of prime numbers.
• The Triangle shared incredible
similarities with Pascal’s Triangle,
which was discovered by his
predecessor named Jia Xian.
Pascal’s Triangle
The earliest existing Chinese illustration of ‘Pascal’s Triangle’ was from Yang’s
book Xiangjie
Jiuzhang Suanfa of 1261 AD. This writing was a compilation of the problems from
the Han dynasty classic and its reviews. Jiuzhang Suanshu (Nine Chapters on the
Mathematical Procedures) was also one of his famous writings; it contains the
oldest description of the Chinese Triangle, known as Blaise Pascal’s Triangle in the
Western world.
“Yang Hui’s Triangle” was introduced by Jia Xian, a Chinese mathematician who set
it forth about 500 years before Blaise Pascal. Yang Hui’s Triangle is a special
triangular arrangement of numbers that is used today in most mathematical works.
In Europe, this Triangle is often named after Blaise Pascal, who was a French
mathematician in the 17th Century.
 Yang Hui’s Publications:

Hui finally had two published mathematical books, which was published around
1275 AD. At that time, the books were titled Xugu Zhaiqi Suanfa and Suanfa
Tongbian Benmo. In his previous book, he wrote about the arrangement of natural
numbers around concentric and nonconcentric circles, which were known as magic
circles and magic squares, providing rules for their construction.
In his work, he criticized the earlier works of Li Chunfeng and Liu Yi. He said,
“the men of the old era had changed the name of their methods vary from problem
to problem since no specific explanation was given, there is no way of telling their
theoretical source.”
 Yang’s Writings
In his writings, he provided theoretical proof for the complements of the parallelograms. He shared a
common idea with Euclid’s, a Greek mathematician in the 300 BC. Yang used the case of a rectangle and
gnomon. He represented the quadratic equations with negative coefficients of.’ With an exceptional ability to
manipulate decimal fractions and obtain consistent results from it. One of his writings, “Mathematical
Methods” was compiled with a profound mathematical perspective.
• At the beginning of his book, he shared some practical guides in the approach of mathematics. This guide
was originated from the multiplication table, called in the Chinese tradition, and then the study of
positions for the layout of numerals and the multiplication algorithms for higher numbers. In his
compilation, he also described a geometric method on how to solve quadratic equations in Detail
• A variety of magic squares can be found in “Strange Mathematical Methods,” which includes a square
such that each vertical and horizontal line of numbers adds to 505. Over the preceding years, he produced
lots of material to support his concept. Still, he published nothing more until 1274 when Cheng Chu Tong
Bian Ben Mo, which means Alpha and omega of variations on multiplication and division, was
developed.
 From his publications :-
• Magic square • Magic circle
 His role as a Chinese mathematician:
Yang Hui published some of his other mathematical works, “Jih–Yung Suan–fa“ (“Mathematical
Rules in Common Use”), in 1262. It was based on two volumes. Although the book is gone out of
sales. However, some of its sections were retrieved and restored by Li Yen from the Chia Suan–fa
in the Yujng–lo ta–tien encyclopedia. This book seems to be quite introductory due to the
information shared.
The book “Hsiang–Chieh Chiu–change suan–fa“ was possibly known as one of the best sold in
his time.
• In the book, he has explained the questions and provided answers in Chiu–chang suanshu,
illustrating each with a diagram. He gave detailed solutions for all arithmetic problems. He
made comparisons between Problems of the same nature. In the last chapter of T suan lei, Yang
Hui, reclassified all the 246 problems in the Chiu–chang suanshu for the benefit of other
mathematical students.
Thank
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