William

The Suzhou numerals, also known as Sūzhōu mǎzi (蘇州碼子), is a numeral system used in China before the introduction of Arabic numerals. The Suzhou numerals are also known as huāmǎ (花碼), cǎomǎ (草碼), jīngzǐmǎ (菁仔碼), fānzǐmǎ (番仔碼) and shāngmǎ (商碼). == History == The Suzhou numeral system is the only surviving variation of the rod numeral system. The rod numeral system is a positional 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...