How did China count Arabic numerals before they were widely used?

Before the invention of Arabic numerals, the ancients used the tools of "calculation and preparation" in the operation process. "Counting chips" are some symmetrical sticks made of wood and bamboo. The ancient people in China arranged these sticks vertically and horizontally, so they could represent any natural number.

According to research, at least in the Spring and Autumn Period more than 2,500 years ago, the method of calculating and recording funds in ancient China was quite complete. There are two types of calculation and arrangement, horizontal and vertical, both of which can represent the same number.

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In the origin of Arabic numerals

Around 500 A.D., with the rise and development of economy and caste system, Punjab in the northwest of Indian subcontinent has been in a leading position in mathematics.

Astronomer Ayepihite made a new breakthrough in simplifying numbers: he recorded the numbers with a grid. If there is a symbol in the first grid, such as a point representing 1, then the same point in the second grid represents ten, and the point in the third grid represents one hundred.

In this way, not only the digital symbols themselves, but also their position order is of great significance. Later, Indian scholars introduced the symbol zero. It can be said that these symbols and representations are the old ancestors of Arabic numerals.