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The procedure referred to by the term ''fangcheng'' and explained in the eighth chapter of The Nine Chapters, is essentially a procedure to find the solution of systems of ''n'' equations in ''n'' unknowns and is equivalent to certain similar procedures in modern [[linear algebra]]. The earliest recorded ''fangcheng'' procedure is similar to what we now call [[Gaussian elimination]].
The ''fangcheng'' procedure was popular in ancient [[China]] and was transmitted to [[Japan]]. It is possible that this procedure was transmitted to [[Europe]] also and served as precursors of the modern theory of [[Matrix (mathematics)|matrices]], [[Gaussian elimination]], and [[determinant]]s.<ref name="Hart02" /> It is well known that there was not much work on linear algebra in [[Greece]] or [[Europe]] prior to [[Gottfried Leibniz]]'s studies of [[Elimination theory|elimination]] and [[Determinant|determinants]], beginning in 1678. Moreover, Leibniz was a [[Sinophile]] and was interested in the translations of such Chinese texts as were available to him.<ref name="Hart02">{{cite book |author=Roger Hart|title=The Chinese Roots of Linear Algebra |date=2011 |publisher=The Johns Hopkins University Press |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/chapter/322679 |accessdate=6 December 2016}}</ref>
== On the meaning of ''fangcheng'' ==
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