Overview. There were great achievements in Chinese mathematics in the Song dynasty (960-1279) and Yuan dynasty (1279-1368). The great mathematicians Shao Yong, Li Zhi, and Qin Jiushao made remarkable strides in the development of algebra. Qin was the first Chinese mathematician to use zero; at the same time the Italians began to use it as an Arabic numeral. Another famous mathematician, Zhu Shijie, completed two well-known books in 1299 and 1303, the Introduction to Mathematics and the Emerald Mirror of the Four Rules, respectively.

Blank Space. Zero is fundamental to effective mathematical operations, and its discovery was of the greatest significance. The traditional story of the invention of the sign 0 for zero is that the Indians created it in the ninth century. As early as the fourth century B.C.E., the Chinese invented the use of a blank space for zero. For example, the...