27 October 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

Earliest Multiplication Formulas Discovered in a 2,300-Year-Old Chinese Tomb

Archaeologists excavating a tomb in the Qinjiazui archaeological site of Jingzhou City, Hubei Province, China, have found the earliest multiplication formulas on record.

The earliest multiplication formulas on record have been discovered on bamboo slips from the Warring States period (475BC-221BC), pushing the history of these formulas back by nearly a century, China’s National Cultural Heritage Administration (NCHA) announced at a press conference.

The formula, which dates back to the 4th century BC during the Warring State Period (475-221 BC), precedes another piece discovered in central Hunan Province by approximately a century, said Yang Kaiyong, a research fellow at the Jingzhou Museum. The burial – known simply as M1093 – probably dates back to the reign of either King Chu Xuan or King Chu Wei, from 369 to 329 BCE.

Bamboo slips were the most popular writing material in the period before paper became widespread. These slips, which are typically a centimeter or two wide and a few inches long, have been discovered in large numbers at the Qinjiazui site. Of all the tombs identified so far, M1093 contains the highest number of these slips.

Thousands of bamboo slips holding over 30,000 characters ranging from mathematics, literature, and animal husbandry to medicines have been discovered in the tomb.



📣 Our WhatsApp channel is now LIVE! Stay up-to-date with the latest news and updates, just click here to follow us on WhatsApp and never miss a thing!!



An archaeologist sorts out bamboo slips at a tomb in the city of Jingzhou, central China’s Hubei Province. Photo: Jingzhou Museum/Handout via Xinhua

Scientists have used infrared scanning to reveal the words on the slip: “Five times seven is thirty plus five, four times seven is twenty plus eight, three times seven is twenty plus one.”

On one of the strips, researchers found multiplication formulas as well as the oldest known example of an algebraic table known as Jiujiushu.

According to the researchers: “This significant discovery offers invaluable new resources for studying the history, culture, and ideologies prevalent during the pre-Qin period.”

The Warring States period lasted from 475 to 221 BCE and ended when the Qin state overcame its six adversaries. This resulted in the unification of the Chinese empire for the first time and the establishment of the Qin dynasty.

Cover Photo: Bamboo scripts from the Warring States period (475BC-221BC) unearthed from the M1093 tomb at the Qinjiazui site in Jingzhou city, Hubei Province. Photo: China’s National Cultural Heritage Administration

Related Articles

The Highest Prehistoric Petroglyphs in Europe Discovered at 3000 Meters in the Italian Alps

20 November 2024

20 November 2024

The highest petroglyphs in Europe were found at Pizzo Tresero (Valfurva) in the Stelvio National Park in the northern Italian...

Archaeologists Find One of the Long-Lost Holy Cities in Jordan

13 July 2025

13 July 2025

A remarkable archaeological discovery in Jordan has brought one of the Holy Land’s long-lost cities back to light. Researchers now...

Centuries-old boardwalk discovered

22 December 2023

22 December 2023

During construction work in November 2023, road construction workers in FĂźrth came across an archaeological sensation: a centuries-old boardwalk under...

A Life-Size Funerary High Relief Discovered in Pompeii’s Porta Sarno Necropolis

3 April 2025

3 April 2025

A research project titled “Investigating the Archaeology of Death in Pompeii,” developed by the Universitat de València in collaboration with...

Researchers decipher enigmatic ancient ‘Unknown Kushan Script’

13 July 2023

13 July 2023

A research team at the University of Cologne’s Department of Linguistics deciphered a writing system belonging to the Kushan Empire,...

Bronze Age burial chamber discovered on Dartmoor, England

14 May 2024

14 May 2024

Excitement has been felt among archaeologists over the discovery of a Bronze Age burial chamber on Dartmoor, which may provide...

‘Astonishingly Preserved’ Ancient Roman Well Found in Cambridgeshire was An Engineering Failure

22 August 2024

22 August 2024

In an excavation at the site of future highway improvements in Cambridgeshire, the team from MOLA (Museum of London Archaeology)...

Archaeologists discover bones of a woman who lived 14,000 years ago at a site in The Iberian Peninsula

13 August 2021

13 August 2021

Archaeologists have discovered the bones of a lady who lived 14,000 years ago, the earliest traces of a modern burial...

New evidence for early regional exchanges in Eurasia: Ice skates made of animal bones over 3,000 years old

9 March 2023

9 March 2023

Chinese archaeologists have discovered ancient ice skates made of animal bones at the Gaotai Ruins in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous...

AI Unlocks Ancient Secrets: Dead Sea Scrolls May Be Centuries Older Than Previously Thought

8 June 2025

8 June 2025

New research blends cutting-edge artificial intelligence with advanced radiocarbon dating and offers a transformative perspective on the origins of the...

Treasure hunters revealed a 2,700-year-old Urartian temple In the east of Turkey

18 June 2022

18 June 2022

Treasure hunters revealed a 2,700-year-old Urartian temple A group of treasure hunters, who were digging illegally to find treasure in...

The first and largest astronomical observatory of the 6th century BC discovered in Egypt’s Kafr El-Sheikh

24 August 2024

24 August 2024

Archaeologists in Egypt unveiled the first and largest astronomical observatory from the 6th century BCE in the Buto Temple at...

Researchers Define the Borders of El Argar, the First State-Society in the Iberian Peninsula

18 March 2025

18 March 2025

Recent research conducted by scholars from the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) and the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology...

Ancient Well Dating Back to 7th Century AD Discovered on Failaka Island

18 March 2025

18 March 2025

An ancient well, dating back to the pre-Islamic and early Islamic periods, has been discovered on Failaka Island, providing valuable...

New Roman Settlement Discovered in TĂźrkiye May Be Linked to the Lost City of Arsameia

17 October 2025

17 October 2025

Archaeologists in southeastern Türkiye have discovered a previously unknown Roman settlement dating to the 4th century AD — a site...