Note on the recent Chinese and Mongolian translations of Euclid's Elements (Q1360084): Difference between revisions

Following report on recent translations of Heath's translation of Euclid's Elements into modern Chinese and Mongolian [\textit{Mo De} and \textit{Z. Jiang}, Hist. Math. 24, No. 2, 197-199, Art. No. HM 962149 (1997; Zbl 0877.01001)], the author gives a brief and interesting overview of Chinese translations of the Elements in a span of four centuries. While a comparison of the difference between classical and modern Chinese with that between Latin and English is apt in general, and difference in syntax notwithstanding, the 17th century translation by Ricci and Xu, to a modern Chinese reader, perhaps seems more like Heath to a modern English reader, provided one replaces the notation jia, er, bing, \dots for points by \(A,B,C, \dots\) as in modern translations. The 1865 combined edition sponsored by Zeng Guofan has recently been reissued as appendix to the 5 volume set of Chinese mathematical classics edited by \textit{Guo Shuchan}, along with an introductory survey by \textit{Wang Yusheng}. This would serve as interesting comparison with the new translations which textually are more faithful to the Elements.