On the myth of an ancient Chinese theorem about primality (Q947045)

Fermat's little theorem about the primality of \(2^{n-1}\) has often been attributed to the most ancient Chinese antiquity by Western authors, for example Rouse Ball's famous Mathematical Recreations and Essays first published in 1892. Some others write that the XIXth century mathematicians Li Shanlan (1811--1882) and Hua Hengfang (1833--1902) also published equivalents of this theorem. All these assertions are examined and unraveled with a wealth of details leaving no room to doubt: the idea of the Chinese origin of this theorem has no substance.