China Numbers and Traditional Culture

Compared with modern Chinese, there are three main differences in radix representation in ancient Chinese:

1, add the word "you" between the integer and zero. "You" is an excuse for "you", pronounced yü.

2. Vacancies are generally not filled with "zero".

3. The "one" before 100, 1000 and 10000 is usually not used. For example:

1) Nine times out of ten, I am determined to learn. ("The Analects of Confucius for Politics")

(2) When I was appointed to the defeated army, I was ordered to keep up with the crisis. I have been here for twenty years. ("Zhuge Liang's Model")

(3) As for Xiaoping, the county is 130. (Preface to the Records of the Later Han Dynasty)

(4) Today, thousands of miles away, it is one hundred and twenty cities. ("Warring States Policy, Qi Ce, I")

Second, ordinal symbols

In modern Chinese, ordinal numbers is expressed by adding "ground" and "place" before the cardinal word, while in ancient Chinese, there are other expressions.

1, with the word "ground" before the cardinal number. This ordinal notation is consistent from ancient times to the present. For example:

Xiao He came first, followed by Cao Can. (Historical Records Xiao Shijia)

There is a third lang in the cloud, chinese odyssey. (Peacock flies southeast)

2. Use the words "Taishang", "Tou" and "Guan" to indicate the first, and use "Ji", "Ci" and "Ci" to indicate the ordinal number below the second.

(1) Don't insult your body first, then your body, then your color, then your words, then your body, then your clothes, then your wooden rope, then your hair, then your baby's gold and iron, then your skin, then your limbs. Corruption is the worst. (Sima Qian's "Reporting Ren Anshu")

(2) Guanzi conquered the world, and the nine kings were the first of the five tyrants. ("Warring States Policy, Qi Ce, I")

(3) General Lingxian has made great contributions to the world and won the title of the three armed forces. (Li Ling and Su Wushu)

3. Remember the year without the word "first", which is consistent with modern Chinese. For example:

(1) in the sixteenth year of Zhao Huiwen, Lian Po was General Zhao (Biography of Historical Records, Lian Po and Lin Xiangru).

② Eight years in Taiyuan, autumn and July. ("The Battle of Zitongzhi Sword and Feishui")

4. Omit the word "the first" and use only "one, two, three ………", for example:

(1) the momentum, and then decline, three and exhausted. ("Zuo Zhuan Zhuang Gong Ten Years")

(2) Comply with the people's will and make up for three things: first, the Lord has used enough, second, the people have made less friends, and third, they have advised farmers to work. (Chao Cuo, "On Your Millet")

5. Use "Bo (Meng), Zhong, Shu and Ji" to indicate the ranking order of brothers. When "Ji" is used alone, it means "minimum" and does not necessarily rank fourth. For example:

(1) the season of the emperor of heaven. ("Shui Jing Zhu Jiang Shang")

Third, the fractional representation.

1, with "fen" and "zhi" between denominator and numerator, forming the format of "denominator+fen+noun+numerator". This is the most complete format for expressing scores in classical Chinese. For example:

(1) the date of January 29th, eighty-one minutes forty-three. (Hanshu Law Calendar)

(2) the winter solstice, this day is the 21st quarter. (same as above)

"Forty-three eighty-one days" means "forty-three eighty-one days" and "quarter degree" means "quarter degree".

2. Sometimes nouns between denominator and numerator can be omitted to form the format of "denominator+fraction+sum+numerator". This is consistent with modern Chinese. For example:

(1) Therefore, the land in Guanzhong is one third of the world. (Biography of Historical Records and Huo Zhi)

(2) if the complex number of years, loss of two-thirds also, when how to figure the enemy ("after the model").

3. There is only the word "fen" between denominator and numerator, but there is no word "zhi", forming the format of "denominator+fen+numerator".

(1) Ugliness is divided into two parts, Yin into nine parts and eight parts, and Mao into twenty-seven parts and sixteen parts. (Historical Records, Official Books)

(2) Huang Zhong is eight inches and seven minutes long, Gong and Tai Qun are seven inches, five minutes and two minutes long, and seven inches and ten minutes long. (historical record)

4. Denominator: there is only the word "zhi" between molecules, but there is no word "fen", forming the format of "denominator+numerator". For example:

(1) most of the participating countries only have one, one fifth, one of Xiao Jiu. (Zuo Zhuan Yin Gongyuan)

(2) Today, although my father didn't get a lucky man, he went to a fierce place, which is one of Yu Shun's twenty merits. ("Zuo Zhuan Wen Zhuan Gong Eighteen Years")

5. When the denominator is an integer of ten, hundred, thousand and ten thousand, the denominator and numerator are connected together to form the format of "denominator+numerator", such as:

(1) Actually, everything is the same thing. ("Mencius Teng Wengong")

② Don't chop from the first order, but stick to it 167. ("Historical Records Chen She Family")

Fourth, multiple representativeness.

The representation of multiples in ancient Chinese is quite different from that in modern Chinese, and there are three main forms:

1, using a special word to represent a fixed multiple. For example:

(1) plant three acres of beans, twice as much as millet. (Song Lian's Biography of Wang Mian)

(2) If the husband is at odds with things, so is his feeling about things. Or they are twice as good, or they are hundreds, or they are tens of millions. ("Mencius Teng Wengong")

2. Only numbers are used to directly represent multiples, and the word "times" is omitted. For example:

(1) I've heard that the law remains unchanged; If you don't do much, it won't work. ("Shang Jun Book Geng Fa")

(2) people's temperament can't be compared with each other, but wisdom has everything.

3. It means several times of a certain number, usually two numbers are connected together, the former number means multiple and the latter number means radix, forming the format of "multiple+radix". For example:

(1) The moon is full in March and May, and the toad and rabbit are absent in April and May. (Nineteen ancient poems)

(2) There was a man of God, Baal, who spent the night in this field, and his arm was connected to the emperor. (Shan Hai Jing, Overseas South Jing)

"Three five" means "three times five (fifteen)", "four times five" means "four times five (twenty)" and "two times eight" means "two times eight (sixteen)".

Fifth, approximate representation.

There are four main expressions of divisor in ancient Chinese:

1, an integer representing the approximate value. For example:

(1) 300 poems, in a word, say: naive thinking. ("The Analects of Confucius Governing Politics")

(2) Serving people with virtue, the center is pleasing, such as Confucius, and seventy children serve it. ("Mencius Gongsun Chou")

There are 305 books of the Book of Songs, 3,000 disciples of Confucius, and 72 people who are proficient in six arts. "300" and "70" are all based on their integer approximations.

2. Use two connected numbers to represent the divisor. For example:

There are five or six champions and six or seven boys.

(2) * * * happened in 2003, not long ago. (Peacock flies southeast)

"56", "67" and "23" are all approximate figures.

3. Add "Yu", "Suo", "Xu" and "Yu" after the integer to indicate the divisor. For example:

(1) Zou Jixiu more than eight feet. ("Warring States Policy, Qi Ce, I")

(2) Liang Shu was frightened and obeyed his orders. My father went to the institute and returned it. ("Historical Records Stay in Hou Shijia")

(3) Twenty years of transfer to Bashu. ("The History of the Later Han Dynasty")

(4) Qingqi travels more than 300 miles a day and one night. ("Purple Tongzhi Sword Battle of Red Cliffs")

4. Add adverbs before the cardinal number, such as "Jiang", "Ji", "Qi" and "Ke" to indicate approximate figures. For example:

The calendar will last for a hundred years. (Shen Yue's Biography of Xie Lingyun)

(2) Korea is Korea for decades. (Jia Yi's "On Accumulation and Sparse Storage")

③ The fool in Beishan is 90 years old. (Liezi Tang Wen)

(4) The daughter can be twelve years old. ("Han Shu Wang Zhang Chuan")

Sixth, imaginary number representation

1, indicating more imaginary numbers.

In ancient Chinese, imaginary numbers commonly used to express quantity are: three, nine, twelve, thirty-six, seventy-two, hundred, thousand, ten thousand and so on. For example:

(1) It repeatedly wants to protect the monarch and rejuvenate the country. In an article, there are three greetings. (Biography of Qu Yuan in Historical Records)

(2) Huan Gong proclaimed himself emperor, and nine kings united to rule the world together. (Preface to Biography of Historical Records and Huo Zhi)

(3) twelve volumes of military books with the names of lords. ("Mulan Poetry")

(4) Tan Gong has thirty-six plans, and walking is the best policy. ("Wang Jingze Biography, Nanqi Book")

⑤ Guan Zi said, "In ancient times, there were 72 people who paid homage to Liang's father in Mount Tai, but there were only two reporters in our hospital." (Historical Records Zen Book)

The figures added above are imaginary, and there are too many words.

2, representing a few imaginary numbers.

In ancient Chinese, the words "half", "one", "three" and "one-two" are often used to indicate a small quantity. For example:

(1) Half-horse red yarn is silk, which is char value for cow head. (Bai Juyi's Charcoal Man)

(2) strive to become your majesty Chen Qi. (Wang Anshi's "Nothing Great Happens in the Hundred Years")

(3) Late at night, the atrium is surrounded by clouds in twos and threes.

The figures added in the above examples are imaginary numbers, and the number of words is very small.