Classical Chinese mathematics (c. 400—1300)

Zu Chongzhi
Main article: Chinese mathematics

Zu Chongzhi (5th century) of the Southern and Northern Dynasties computed the value of π to seven decimal places, which remained the most accurate value of π for almost 1000 years.

In the thousand years following the Han dynasty, starting in the Tang dynasty and ending in the Song dynasty, Chinese mathematics thrived at a time when European mathematics did not exist. Developments first made in China, and only much later known in the West, include negative numbers, the binomial theorem, matrix methods for solving systems of linear equations and the Chinese remainder theorem. The Chinese also developed Pascal's triangle and the rule of three long before it was known in Europe.

Even after European mathematics began to flourish during the Renaissance, European and Chinese mathematics were separate traditions, with significant Chinese mathematical output in decline, until the Jesuit missionaries carried mathematical ideas back and forth between the two cultures from the 16th to 18th centuries.