Suzhou numerals
Encyclopedia
The Suzhou
numerals or huama is a numeral system
used in China before the introduction of Arabic numerals
.
numeral system used by the Chinese in mathematics. Suzhou numerals are a variation of the Southern Song
rod numerals.
Suzhou numerals were used as shorthand in number-intensive areas of commerce such as accounting and bookkeeping. At the same time, standard Chinese numerals
were used in formal writing, akin to spelling out the numbers in English. Suzhou numerals were once popular in Chinese marketplaces, such as those in Hong Kong
along with local transportation before the 1990s, but they have gradually been supplanted by Arabic numerals. This is similar to what had happened in Europe with Roman numerals
used in ancient and medieval Europe for mathematics and commerce. Nowadays, the Suzhou numeral system is only used for displaying prices in Chinese markets or on traditional handwritten invoices.
The number 4 of Kharosthi numerals in ancient India is somewhat similar to number 4 of Suzhou numerals.
.
The numbers one, two, and three are all represented by vertical bars. This can cause confusion when they appear next to each other. Standard Chinese ideographs are often used in this situation to avoid ambiguity. For example, "21" is written as "" instead of "" which can be confused with "3" . The first character of such sequences is usually represented by the Suzhou numeral, while the second character is represented by the Chinese ideograph.
. The full numerical notations are written in two lines to indicate numerical value, order of magnitude
, and unit of measurement.
When written horizontally (left to right, top to bottom):
When written vertically (top to bottom, right to left):
The first line contains the numerical values, in this example, "" stands for "4022". The second line consists of Chinese characters that represents the order of magnitude
and unit of measurement of the first digit in the numerical representation. In this case "" which stands for "ten yuan
". When put together, it is then read as "40.22 yuan".
Possible characters denoting order of magnitude include:
Other possible characters denoting unit of measurement include:
Notice that the decimal point is implicit when the first digit is set at the ten position
. Zero is represented by the character for zero (〇). Leading and trailing zeros are unnecessary in this system.
This is very similar to the modern scientific notation
for floating point
numbers where the significant digits are represented in the mantissa and the order of magnitude is specified in the exponent. Also, the unit of measurement, with the first digit indicator, is usually aligned to the middle of the "numbers" row.
standard version 3.0, these characters are incorrectly named Hangzhou
style numerals. In the Unicode standard 4.0, an erratum was added which stated:
All references to "Hangzhou" in the Unicode standard have been corrected to "Suzhou" except for the character names themselves, which cannot be changed once assigned, according to the Unicode Stability Policy. (This policy allows software to use the names as unique identifiers.)
In the episode "The Blind Banker" of the 2010 BBC series Sherlock, Sherlock Holmes refers to the numbers as "Hangzhou" instead of the correct "Suzhou."
See also: Unicode numerals
Suzhou
Suzhou , previously transliterated as Su-chou, Suchow, and Soochow, is a major city located in the southeast of Jiangsu Province in Eastern China, located adjacent to Shanghai Municipality. The city is situated on the lower reaches of the Yangtze River and on the shores of Taihu Lake and is a part...
numerals or huama is a numeral system
Numeral system
A numeral system is a writing system for expressing numbers, that is a mathematical notation for representing numbers of a given set, using graphemes or symbols in a consistent manner....
used in China before the introduction of Arabic numerals
Arabic numerals
Arabic numerals or Hindu numerals or Hindu-Arabic numerals or Indo-Arabic numerals are the ten digits . They are descended from the Hindu-Arabic numeral system developed by Indian mathematicians, in which a sequence of digits such as "975" is read as a numeral...
.
History
The Suzhou numeral system is the only surviving variation of the rod numeral system. The rod numeral system is a positionalPositional notation
Positional notation or place-value notation is a method of representing or encoding numbers. Positional notation is distinguished from other notations for its use of the same symbol for the different orders of magnitude...
numeral system used by the Chinese in mathematics. Suzhou numerals are a variation of the Southern Song
Song Dynasty
The Song Dynasty was a ruling dynasty in China between 960 and 1279; it succeeded the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period, and was followed by the Yuan Dynasty. It was the first government in world history to issue banknotes or paper money, and the first Chinese government to establish a...
rod numerals.
Suzhou numerals were used as shorthand in number-intensive areas of commerce such as accounting and bookkeeping. At the same time, standard Chinese numerals
Chinese numerals
Chinese numerals are characters for writing numbers in Chinese. Today speakers of Chinese use three numeral systems:the ubiquitous Arabic numerals and two indigenous systems....
were used in formal writing, akin to spelling out the numbers in English. Suzhou numerals were once popular in Chinese marketplaces, such as those in Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
along with local transportation before the 1990s, but they have gradually been supplanted by Arabic numerals. This is similar to what had happened in Europe with Roman numerals
Roman numerals
The numeral system of ancient Rome, or Roman numerals, uses combinations of letters from the Latin alphabet to signify values. The numbers 1 to 10 can be expressed in Roman numerals as:...
used in ancient and medieval Europe for mathematics and commerce. Nowadays, the Suzhou numeral system is only used for displaying prices in Chinese markets or on traditional handwritten invoices.
The number 4 of Kharosthi numerals in ancient India is somewhat similar to number 4 of Suzhou numerals.
Symbols
In the Suzhou numeral system, special symbols are used for digits instead of the Chinese characters. The digits of the Suzhou numerals are defined between U+3021 and U+3029 in UnicodeUnicode
Unicode is a computing industry standard for the consistent encoding, representation and handling of text expressed in most of the world's writing systems...
.
| Number | "Hangzhou" | CJK Ideographs | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Character | Unicode | Character | Unicode | |
| 0 | 〇 | U+3007 | ||
| 1 | 〡 | U+3021 | 一 | U+4E00 |
| 2 | 〢 | U+3022 | 二 | U+4E8C |
| 3 | 〣 | U+3023 | 三 | U+4E09 |
| 4 | 〤 | U+3024 | ||
| 5 | 〥 | U+3025 | ||
| 6 | 〦 | U+3026 | ||
| 7 | 〧 | U+3027 | ||
| 8 | 〨 | U+3028 | ||
| 9 | 〩 | U+3029 | ||
The numbers one, two, and three are all represented by vertical bars. This can cause confusion when they appear next to each other. Standard Chinese ideographs are often used in this situation to avoid ambiguity. For example, "21" is written as "" instead of "" which can be confused with "3" . The first character of such sequences is usually represented by the Suzhou numeral, while the second character is represented by the Chinese ideograph.
Notations
The digits are positionalPositional notation
Positional notation or place-value notation is a method of representing or encoding numbers. Positional notation is distinguished from other notations for its use of the same symbol for the different orders of magnitude...
. The full numerical notations are written in two lines to indicate numerical value, order of magnitude
Order of magnitude
An order of magnitude is the class of scale or magnitude of any amount, where each class contains values of a fixed ratio to the class preceding it. In its most common usage, the amount being scaled is 10 and the scale is the exponent being applied to this amount...
, and unit of measurement.
When written horizontally (left to right, top to bottom):
| 〤 | 〇 | 〢 | 二 |
| 拾 | 元 |
When written vertically (top to bottom, right to left):
| 拾 | 〤 |
| 元 | 〇 |
| 〢 | |
| 二 |
The first line contains the numerical values, in this example, "" stands for "4022". The second line consists of Chinese characters that represents the order of magnitude
Order of magnitude
An order of magnitude is the class of scale or magnitude of any amount, where each class contains values of a fixed ratio to the class preceding it. In its most common usage, the amount being scaled is 10 and the scale is the exponent being applied to this amount...
and unit of measurement of the first digit in the numerical representation. In this case "" which stands for "ten yuan
Chinese yuan
The yuan is the base unit of a number of modern Chinese currencies. The yuan is the primary unit of account of the Renminbi.A yuán is also known colloquially as a kuài . One yuán is divided into 10 jiǎo or colloquially máo...
". When put together, it is then read as "40.22 yuan".
Possible characters denoting order of magnitude include:
- qiān (千) for thousand
- bǎi (百) for hundred
- shí (拾) for ten
- blank for one
Other possible characters denoting unit of measurement include:
- yuán (元) for dollar
- máo (毫) or (毛) for 10 cents
- xiān (仙) for 1 cent
- lǐ (里) for the Chinese mile
- any other Chinese measurement unitChinese units of measurementChinese units of measurement are the customary and traditional units of measure used in China. In the People's Republic of China, the units were re-standardised during the late 20th century to make them approximate SI units. Many of the units were formerly based on the number 16 instead of 10...
Notice that the decimal point is implicit when the first digit is set at the ten position
10 (number)
10 is an even natural number following 9 and preceding 11.-In mathematics:Ten is a composite number, its proper divisors being , and...
. Zero is represented by the character for zero (〇). Leading and trailing zeros are unnecessary in this system.
This is very similar to the modern scientific notation
Scientific notation
Scientific notation is a way of writing numbers that are too large or too small to be conveniently written in standard decimal notation. Scientific notation has a number of useful properties and is commonly used in calculators and by scientists, mathematicians, doctors, and engineers.In scientific...
for floating point
Floating point
In computing, floating point describes a method of representing real numbers in a way that can support a wide range of values. Numbers are, in general, represented approximately to a fixed number of significant digits and scaled using an exponent. The base for the scaling is normally 2, 10 or 16...
numbers where the significant digits are represented in the mantissa and the order of magnitude is specified in the exponent. Also, the unit of measurement, with the first digit indicator, is usually aligned to the middle of the "numbers" row.
Hangzhou misnomer
In the UnicodeUnicode
Unicode is a computing industry standard for the consistent encoding, representation and handling of text expressed in most of the world's writing systems...
standard version 3.0, these characters are incorrectly named Hangzhou
Hangzhou
Hangzhou , formerly transliterated as Hangchow, is the capital and largest city of Zhejiang Province in Eastern China. Governed as a sub-provincial city, and as of 2010, its entire administrative division or prefecture had a registered population of 8.7 million people...
style numerals. In the Unicode standard 4.0, an erratum was added which stated:
All references to "Hangzhou" in the Unicode standard have been corrected to "Suzhou" except for the character names themselves, which cannot be changed once assigned, according to the Unicode Stability Policy. (This policy allows software to use the names as unique identifiers.)
In the episode "The Blind Banker" of the 2010 BBC series Sherlock, Sherlock Holmes refers to the numbers as "Hangzhou" instead of the correct "Suzhou."
See also: Unicode numerals
Unicode numerals
Numerals are characters that denote a number. The same Arabic-Indic numerals are used widely in various writing systems throughout the world and all share the same semantics for denoting numbers, However, the graphemes representing these numerals differ widely from one writing system to another...