Ancient Chinese proved the Pythagorean theorem in 17 characters: mathematician

A leading academic has highlighted China’s rich mathematical history, including a startling fact about a well-known theorem

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Pythagorean theorem was proved hundreds years before Euclid by an ancient Chinese mathematician. Photo: Shutterstock

Published: 5:22pm, 22 Nov 2024

Hundreds of years before a Greek scholar outlined his proof of the Pythagorean theorem, ancient Chinese scholars proved it using just 17 characters, a renowned Chinese mathematician highlighted in a recent lecture.

Zhou Xiangyu, a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and former director of its Institute of Mathematics, delivered the lecture at the National Science Communication Centre last Friday, where he spoke about China’s rich mathematical heritage.

“Ancient Chinese mathematics is a treasure trove, concise in language yet profound in meaning. Many more insights await discovery,” Zhou told Science and Technology Daily on Sunday.

He believes ancient Chinese books contain theories that significantly influenced modern mathematics and contributed to Chinese language and culture. Among these theories, the proof of the Pythagorean theorem is particularly fascinating.

The theorem defines the relationship between the three sides of a right-angled triangle, stating that the square of the hypotenuse equals the sum of the squares of the other two sides.

In Western history, the earliest written proof appears in Elements by Euclid, a Greek mathematician in the 4th century BC.