The history of mathematics in China

The historiography of mathematics

2014.09-2018.11 University Paris Diderot, France, Laboratoire SPHERE (Sciences, Philosophy, History, UMR 7219), Ph.D.

2011.09-2014.03 Shanghai Jiao Tong University, School of History and Culture of Science, Master

2007.09-2011.06 Shandong University, School of Physics, Undergraduate

   

2018.12- 2023.07, The Institute for the History of Natural Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Assistant Research Fellow

2023.08 -present, The Institute for the History of Natural Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Associate Research Professor

   

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1. Zhou Xiaohan, The Prince’s Mathematics and Acoustics: An Examination of the Sources of Zhu Zaiyu’s (1536–1611 C.E.) Innovation in Musical Temperament and His Mathematical Approach, Chinese Annals of History of Science and Technology，7(2),028-069(2023) (in English)

2. He Mengying, Zhou Xiaohan, Fourteen Unpublished Letters From Luo Zhenyu to French Sinologist Edouard Chavannes (羅振玉致法國漢學家沙畹未刊書劄十四通考釋), The Documentation (Wenxian), 2023(3), pp.170-192 (in Chinese)

3. Zhou Xiaohan (Célestin)，On the placeholder in numeration and the numeral zero in China，in Peter Gobets, Robert Lawrence Kuhn ed.The Origin and Significance of Zero: An Interdisciplinary Perspective, Leiden, Bosten: Brill,2024, pp.99-128 (in English)

4. Zhou Xiaohan, Abacus Representations in the Treatises of the Ming Dynasty: Focusing on the Mathematical Methods of Beads in a Tray (明代珠算著作中的算盤圖示研究——以《盤珠算法》爲例), The Chinese Journal for the History of Science and Technology Vol. 42 ( 2021) No. 2 （in Chinese）

5. Zhou Xiaohan, He Mengying, The Transmission of Chinese Abacus Arithmetic in the World in the Early and Middle 20th Century：Focusing on Several Booklets on Abacus Arithmetic Written in English (二十世紀中早期中國珠算在世界的傳播——以幾種英文珠算手册爲例), Journal of Inner Mongolia Normal University（Natural Science Edition）, Vol. 50 No. 5, 2021 (in Chinese)

6. Zhou Xiaohan, Preliminary Research on the Mathematical Methods and Order of Problems in the “Fangcheng” Chapter of Yang Hui’s Mathematical Methods (1261 CE)，Chinese Annals of History of Science and Technology， 4 (1), 001–062 (2020) (in English)

7. A Primary Study on the Characteristics of Commercialized Mathematical Works in the Ming Dynasty: Focusing on the “Paratext” of Mathematical Works (明代數學著作的商品化特徵初探——以「副文本」爲研究中心), The History of Science Newsletter (Taiwan), 2021, No. 45, pp.1-38 (in Chinese)

1 Great Compendium of The Nine Chapters on Mathematical Methods with Analogies (九章算法比類大全 1450, 1488 C.E.) 

(The Selected Collection of Chinese Sciences and Technology Classics (中國科技典籍選刊) 

Jinan: Shandong Science and Technology Press), 2024

2. Arithmetical Indicator Gathering the Cultures (同文算指) "General compilation (通編), fascicules 1-4", 

in The Collection of Chinese Books [Contributed ] by the Western Missionaries during the Late Ming and Early Qing [Dynasties] The First Series 

(明清之際西方傳教士漢籍叢刊 第一輯) Nanjing: Phoenix Publishing, pp. 100-278, 2013

1 “The Western Scholars’ Translations, Interpretations and Understandings since the Nineteenth Century of Mathematical Works in Ancient China 

(十九世纪以来西方对中国古代算学著作的翻译、阐释与认识研究)” 

sponsored by The National Social Science Fund of China (Youth Research Project)(国家社科基金青年项目)

2 “The Practical Mathematics in Thirteenth-to-Sixteenth-Century China（十三至十六世纪中国实用数学）” 

sponsored by the Youth Innovation Promotion Association, Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院青年创新促进会）

Zhou Xiaohan’s main research directions are the history of mathematics in ancient China from the 13th to the 16th century, and the historiography of mathematics since the 19th century. He tends to reflect on ancient scientific contents as well as historical writings on science in the way of critical reading and language analysis. Making use of source materials written in Chinese, English, and French, he published a number of research papers in Chinese and English. He also published critical editions of ancient mathematical classics.

 

He is willing to communicate with students with different academic backgrounds and to provide them with ideas and research methods. He is happy to provide students with opportunities for international exchange and expand their research horizons.

 

Students with Mathematical sciences/Historical literature/Foreign language backgrounds or interests are welcomed; Foreign students who are interested in the history of mathematics in China or the history of science and technology in China are also welcomed.