《孫子算經卷下》 "Sun Tzŭ's Computational Classic: Volume III"
§5. Multiplication determining a total (2)

This section gives a word problem where multiplication is used to determine a total (specifically the total number of intersections on a Go board).

Translation

Chinese source text: Version A, Version B, Version C, Version D.
Unless noted otherwise, I follow the text from Version D, 《知不足齋叢書》本.

Source text Target text Notes
今有棊局、方一十九道。問用棊幾何。 Suppose there be [a] chess board, [even a] square of nineteen ways. [We] ask, how many chess-pieces useth [it]?
  • Version A has 碁 (of stone) for the second occurrence of 棊, "chess-piece".
  • Version C erroneously has 諪 for both occurrences of 棊.
答曰、三百六十一。 Answer saith: three hundred [and] sixty-one.
術曰、置一十九道、自相乘之、即得。 Method saith: put [down the] nineteen ways; multiplying it with itself, [we] are done.
  • In modern notation, 19 \times 19 = 361.

Cite this page

Conway (2023). "Sun Tzŭ's Computational Classic: Volume III §5". <https://yawnoc.github.io/sun-tzu/iii/5> Accessed yyyy-mm-dd.