• Journal for History of Mathematics
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.13-30
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• 2014

The book ${\ll}$Ceyuan Haijing${\gg}$ studies inscribed and circumscribed circles in a right triangle and shows equations that give the diameters of the circles. We discuss the development of mathematical contents written by the scholar Yang Zhaoyun in Qing dynasty on the contents of ${\ll}$Ceyuan Haijing${\gg}$ in his book ${\ll}$Jiuyong Yandai${\gg}$. He derived equations to find the diameters of the circles based on algebraic knowledge known in the Qing dynasty. In this paper, we conclude that Yang's methods in devising the equations include the Gou-Gu Theorem, mathematical expressions derived from Gou-Gu ratio table, and the technique of interchanging triangles and events. We conclude that the Gou-Gu ratio table was a very important tool when Yang devised the equations in ${\ll}$Ceyuan Haijing${\gg}$.

• Journal for History of Mathematics
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.205-223
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• 2021

It has been argued that as for the origin of the Pythagorean theorem, the theorem had already been discovered and proved before Pythagoras, and the historical records of ancient mathematics have confirmed various uses of this theorem. The purpose of this study is to examine the relevance of its name caused by Eurocentrism and the weakness of its use in Korean school mathematics and to seek improvements from a critical point of view. To this end, the Pythagorean theorem was reviewed from the perspectives of the history of mathematics and mathematics education. In addition, its name in relation to objective mathematical contents regardless of any specific civilization and its use as a starting point for teaching the theorem in school mathematics were suggested.