A Strip Of Wood Discovered In Japan Was Part Of A 1,300-Year-Old Multiplication Table, Possibly The Oldest Ever Found In The Country
In 2001, a strip of wood was unearthed in the ruins of Fujiwara-kyō, which served as the capital city of imperial Japan between 694 and 710 C.E.
At first, it did not seem like the piece of wood was anything special, but further examination revealed that it was actually part of a 1,300-year-old multiplication table. It may even represent the oldest multiplication table found in Japan.
The ruins of Fujiwara-kyō can be found in what is now Kashihara in Japan’s Nara Prefecture, which is located along the country’s southeastern Pacific coastline.
The wooden strip was roughly six inches in length and half an inch in width. It was carved with some simple equations and was likely used by a government official.
The strip was discovered in what might once have been the office of an “Emon-fu” guard, who was a government worker in charge of security and administrative duties.
A team of researchers from the Nara National Research Institute for Cultural Properties studied the strip under infrared light and were able to make out the equations, which included “9 x 9 = 81,” “4 x 9 = 36,” and “6 x 8 = 48.”
The equations were written in kanji, Chinese characters that were used in the Japanese writing system. They appear to be part of a larger multiplication table that has been lost with time.
“If the multiplication table was whole, the wooden tablet would measure 33 centimeters in length with all the equations written out,” said Kuniya Kuwata, a senior researcher at the Nara National Research Institute for Cultural Properties.
“I initially thought Japanese multiplication charts only had two to three equations per line, so I was genuinely surprised to find one with so many, similar to those in China and Korea.”
Takashi Images – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purposes only
The equations on the fragment of the multiplication table are arranged from right to left. Five rows of equations were written going down from the top. It likely made up the upper right-hand portion of the larger table. The discovery stands out from similar multiplication tables found in Japan, as those ones only had two to three rows.
Multiplication tables with five rows more closely resemble artifacts from China’s Qin and Han dynasties, which spanned from the third century B.C.E. to the third century C.E. This particular table may have been created during Japan’s Kofun period, which lasted from the third to the seventh century.
Emon-fu officers would have used multiplication tables for administrative tasks, such as calculating taxes or organizing work schedules for government employees.
However, this multiplication table might have served another purpose since it could predate the period when Fujiwara-kyō was Japan’s capital. Experts have speculated that the table was possibly used for calculating the dimensions of burial mounds.
Overall, the multiplication table points to the practical applications of mathematics and the responsibilities of bureaucrats in ancient Japan.
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