Ancient Indian text pushes back history of zero by 500 years

古印度文本将“0”的历史往后推动了500年

The symbol "0" is a familiar sight, but its origins are far from certain. A recent batch of carbon dating is causing the history of mathematics to be rewritten, as it has discovered zeros dating back to a period 500 years before previously seen.

符号0令人熟悉，但起源尚未确定。最新的碳年代测定改写了数学的历史，因为0的发现可能追溯到之前认识的500年前。

The numbers appear in an ancient Indian text called the Bakhshali manuscript, which consists of 70 leaves of birch bark, filled with mathematics and text in the form of Sanskrit. "It seems to be a training manual for Buddhist monks," says Marcus du Sautoy at the University of Oxford.

这些数字出现在一种古老的印度文本中，名为Bakhshali手稿，由70片桦树树皮组成，以梵文的形式填满了数字和文字。牛津大学的Marcus du Sautoy说：“这似乎是佛教僧侣的训练手册。

The manuscript was first discovered by a local farmer in 1881, and was named after the village it was found in, in what is now Pakistan. It's been housed by the University of Oxford's Bodleian Library since 1902.

1881年，当地一位农民首次发现了这份手稿，并以其所在村庄的名字命名，现位于巴基斯坦。1902年起被牛津大学的牛津大学图书馆收藏。

Now, the manuscript has been carbon dated -and this has immediately upturned commonly held beliefs. It was originally thought that the manuscript was from the 9th century, but the dating methods revealed that the oldest pages are from somewhere between 224 AD and 383 AD. This means that the manuscript predates a 9th century inscription of zero on the wall of a temple in Gwalior, India, which was previously considered to be the oldest recorded example of a zero.

现在，这份手稿进行了碳年代测试，立马颠覆了人们之前的认识。最初人们认为手稿源于9世纪，但碳测试数据显示，最古老的书页是在公元224年到公元383年之间。这意味着手稿日期早于印在印度瓜廖尔某寺庙的9世纪前，之前这被视为最古老的0的记录。

（注：根据百科——公元前3000年，巴比伦人就已经懂得使用零来避免混淆；标准的0这个数字由古印度人在约公元5世纪时发明。）

译文来源：三泰虎 http://www.santaihu.com/43553.html

【评论】

Truth Brahmandam-Brahmandam-4 hours ago
Some_JEWELL5_from MIGHTY_OCEAN of_Sanatana_Dharma
Value of Pi
gopiibhaagya madhuvraataH shruMgashodadhi saMdhigaH !!
khalajiivitakhaataava galahaalaa rasaMdharaH !! ..a hymn to Krishna gives the value of_pi_upto 31 decimal places.
DECODING_Pi_using_Katapayadi Encryption (Katapayadi system is used to encode numbers in syllables )
ga-3 pii-1 bhaa-4 gya-1 ma-5 dhu-9 ra-2 ta-6 shru-5 ga-3 sho-5 da-8 dhi-9 sa-7 dha-9 ga-3 kha-2 la-3 jii-8 vi-4 ta-6 kha-2 ta-6 va-4 ga-3 la-3 ra-2 sa-7 dha-9 ra–2
= "3.1415926535897932384626433832792"

印度教中的一些瑰宝：π的价值。奎师那的赞美诗中π值为31位小数……
用Katapayadi系统中解谜π就是3.1415926535897932384626433832792

（注：Katapayadi系统是印度奎师那赞美诗中描绘字母数字的音节、词汇或诗句。）

India Lover-Jambudvipa Bharatavarsha-7 hours ago
India is supreme and immortal! Jai hind!

印度至高无上永垂不朽，印度必胜！

JR-DC-7 hours ago
Buddhist? it is Hindu. Nothing else

佛教？它是印度教，仅此而已。

Dean-6 hours ago
And the european and Arabs thinks we are fools and they came and taught us how to be civilized.

欧洲和阿拉伯人认为我们是傻瓜，他们来教我们如何文明。

Suresh K-5 hours ago
Hinduism is the basic of everything in the Universe. But the so called intellectuals won''t accept this, because they think white is supreme.

印度教是宇宙万物的基础。但是所谓的知识分子不会接受这个，因为他们认为白人至上。

Priyajit-6 hours ago
Leftists are definitely going to hate this news. Their falsehood is slowly being cleared upon. The greatness of Sanatan Dharma and Indic civilisation will get accepted by all. Satyameva Jayate.

左翼分子肯定很讨厌这条新闻，他们的谎言正慢慢被拆穿。印度教和印度文明会被所有人接受。

Aaaa-India-6 hours ago
Even after 1200 years of continuous destruction of our civilisation and manuscripts, still more are coming out. How many manuscripts do we have . Just thinking what would have happened if all our manuscripts would have been not destroyed by invaders.

即使我们经历了1200年文明和手稿的持续破坏，仍然有许多东西流出。我们有多少手稿。想一下如果我们的手稿都没被侵略者破坏的话会发生什么。

Jewan Alemao-3 hours ago
We Indians have lost our way somewhere since the British arrived in India. Let''s change that and make India great again...everyone has to do their job and we can rise from the ashes.

英国登陆印度后，我们印度人就迷失了方向，让我们改变，让印度再次伟大。每个人都要各司其职，我们才能从废墟中崛起。

Dean-6 hours ago
present day India is gaining momentum in the field of science which was once our forte.the results are Chandrayan and mangalyan. hope in near future we ll be emulate our glory days

今日印度已经在曾属于我们强项的科学领域中获得了成就，即月球领航和曼加里安号。希望在不久的将来，我们将重返辉煌。