Two problems in the 筭數書 Suanshu shu (Book of Mathematics): Geometric relations between circles and squares and methods for determining their mutual relations

Abstract

Much research has been devoted to two problems, Yi yuancai fang (From a circular timber [find] a square) and Yi fangcai yuan (From a square timber [find] a circle), both of which appear in the Suanshu shu, an early Han dynasty mathematical work written on bamboo slips, excavated from tomb 247 at Zhangjiashan in Hubei Province, China. In this article, the geometric relations between circles and squares and the methods for determining their mutual relations in these two problems are interpreted in a different way, and an alternative approach is offered for reconciling these two problems.