Sangaku are a remarkable practice, bringing together mathematics, art and spirituality. They offer a precious glimpse into the mathematics practiced during the Edo period and give a sense of how sophisticated popular mathematical culture was at the time.
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Rooted in the tradition of Chinese-language treatises, the Japanese mathematics of the Edo period (wasan) is far from a pale copy: the problems and methods developed at the time display remarkable originality in the history of mathematics.
With the country cut off almost entirely from the world during the Edo period, Japanese mathematics developed in isolation for more than a century and a half. It was during this period that highly distinctive geometric puzzles flourished and prospered.
A sangaku was originally a Japanese wooden votive tablet. It sometimes bears an engraved geometric figure with the statement of a problem, together with the solution or sometimes a hint.
The period covered by the two Song dynasties and the early Yuan dynasty was particularly conducive to mathematics. Indeed, four great names emerged during this time: Li Ye, Zhu Shijie, Qin Jiushao, and Yang Hui. Their works share common influences but sometimes very different approaches.
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