Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c6.s1.t3.2

v1.c6.s1.t3.2

Zhen Luan was a Chinese mathematician from Wuji, a county in present day Hebei Province in the Northern Zhou of the Southern and Northern Dynasties. His dates of birth and death are unknown. Zhen Luan was a military officer and a governor in Hanzhong city before and after the middle of 6^th century CE. He was a Buddhist and good at arithmetic. He wrote three books on *Theory Against Taoism*, two books on *Five Classics of Arithmetics*, five books on *Five Cao Arithmetics*, two books on *Seven Luminaries of Calendar Art*, nine books on *Nine Chapters of Mathematics Art*, one book on the *Notes of Zhoubi Mathematics Art* etc. The name of the books that Zhen Luan noted are three books of Xia Houyang Mathematics Art and *Zhang Qiujian Mathematics Art*; three books of *Sun-Tzu Mathematics*; one book of the *Summary of Mathematics*; and one book of *Three Kinds of Mathematics*. He developed the Tianhe Calender which was implemented in 566 CE, the year of Tianhe in Northern Zhou and was used for the next 12 years.