Numeral systems by culture
Hindu-Arabic numerals
Indian Eastern Arabic Khmer	Indian family Brahmi Thai
East Asian numerals
Chinese Suzhou Counting rods	Japanese Korean
Alphabetic numerals
Abjad Armenian Cyrillic Ge'ez	Hebrew Greek (Ionian) Āryabhaṭa
Other systems
Attic Babylonian Egyptian Etruscan	Mayan Roman Urnfield
List of numeral system topics
Positional systems by base
Decimal (10)
2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64
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Chinese numerals are characters for writing numbers in Chinese. A numeral system (or system of numeration) is a Mathematical notation for representing numbers of a given set by symbols in a consistent manner The Hindu-Arabic numeral system is a Positional Decimal Numeral system first documented in the ninth century The arabic numerals (often capitalized are the ten Digits (0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 which—along with the system The Eastern Arabic numerals (also called Arabic-Indic numerals and Arabic Eastern Numerals) are the symbols used to represent the Hindu-Arabic numeral system Khmer numerals are the numerals used in the Khmer language of Cambodia. Most of the positional Base 10 Numeral systems in the world have originated from India, which first developed the concept of positional numerology The Brahmi numerals are an indigenous Indian numeral system attested from the 3rd century BCE (somewhat later in the case of most of the tens Thai numerals (เลขไทย are a set of numerals traditionally used in Thailand, although the Arabic numerals are more common The Suzhou numerals or huama is a Numeral system used in China before the introduction of Arabic numerals. Counting rods ( Japanese: 算木 sangi are small bars typically 3-14 cm long used by mathematicians for calculation in China, Japan The Korean language has two regularly used sets of numerals a Sino-Korean system and a native Korean system The Abjad numerals are a decimal Numeral system in which the 28 letters of the Arabic alphabet are assigned numerical values The system of Armenian numerals is a historic Numeral system created using the Majuscules (uppercase letters of the Armenian alphabet. Cyrillic numerals was a numbering system derived from the Cyrillic alphabet, used by South and East Slavic peoples. Ge'ez (gez ግዕዝ) also called Ethiopic, is an Abugida script that was originally developed to write Ge'ez, a Semitic language The system of Hebrew numerals is a quasi-decimal alphabetic Numeral system using the letters of the Hebrew alphabet. ʹ the numeral sign redirects here For the accent ´ see Acute accent. The Āryabhaṭa numeration is a system of numerals based on Sanskrit phonemes. Attic numerals were used by the ancient Greeks, possibly from the 7th century BC Babylonian numerals were written in cuneiform, using a wedge-tipped reed Stylus to make a mark on a soft Clay tablet which would be exposed The system of Ancient Egyptian numerals was a Numeral system used in ancient Egypt aka Kemet The Etruscan numerals were used by the ancient Etruscans The system was adapted from the Greek Attic numerals and formed the inspiration for the later Roman The Pre-Columbian Maya civilization used a Vigesimal ( base - twenty) Numeral system. Roman numerals are a Numeral system originating in ancient Rome, adapted from Etruscan numerals. Discovery In 1946 a deposit with more than 250 sickles corresponding to the period 1500-1250 BC was discovered in Frankleben (in the region of Merseburg - Querfurt This is a list of Numeral system topics (and "numeric representations" by Wikipedia page A positional notation or place-value notation system is a Numeral system in which each position is related to the next by a Constant multiplier a In mathematical numeral systems, the base or radix is usually the number of unique digits, including zero that a positional Numeral The decimal ( base ten or occasionally denary) Numeral system has ten as its base. The binary numeral system, or base-2 number system, is a Numeral system that represents numeric values using two symbols usually 0 and 1. Quaternary is the base - Numeral system. It uses the digits 0 1 2 and 3 to represent any Real number. The octal Numeral system, or oct for short is the base -8 number system and uses the digits 0 to 7 In Mathematics and Computer science, hexadecimal (also base -, hexa, or hex) is a Numeral system with a Base 32 or duotrigesimal is a Numeral system with 32 as its base The base - system is a Numeral system with 64 as its base It is the largest power-of-two base that can be represented using single printable ASCII The unary numeral system is the bijective base - 1 Numeral system. Ternary or trinary is the base - Numeral system. Analogous to a " Bit " a ternary digit is known as a trit ( Nonary is a base - Numeral system, typically using the digits 0-8 but not the digit 9 The duodecimal system (also known as base -12 or dozenal) is a Numeral system using twelve as its base. The vigesimal or base - numeral system is based on twenty (in the same way in which the ordinary decimal numeral system is based on ten The base - system is a Numeral system with 24 as its base There are 24 hours in a day so our time keeping system includes a base-24 component Base 30 or trigesimal is a positional numeral system using 30 as the Radix. Base 36 is a positional numeral system using 36 as the Radix. Sexagesimal ( base-sixty) is a Numeral system with sixty as the base. A number is an Abstract object, tokens of which are Symbols used in Counting and measuring. Today, speakers of Chinese use three numeral systems: the ubiquitous system of Arabic numeral system, along with two ancient Chinese numeral systems. A numeral system (or system of numeration) is a Mathematical notation for representing numbers of a given set by symbols in a consistent manner The Hindu-Arabic numeral system is a Positional Decimal Numeral system first documented in the ninth century The Suzhou numerals (traditional Chinese: 蘇州碼子; simplified Chinese: 苏州码子; pinyin: Sūzhōu mǎzi) or huama (traditional Chinese: 花碼; simplified Chinese: 花码; pinyin: huāmǎ; literally "flowery or fancy numbers") system has gradually been supplanted by the Arabic system in writing numbers. The Suzhou numerals or huama is a Numeral system used in China before the introduction of Arabic numerals. Pinyin, more formally Hanyu pinyin, is the most common Standard Mandarin Romanization system in use Pinyin, more formally Hanyu pinyin, is the most common Standard Mandarin Romanization system in use The character system is still used and roughly analogous to writing out a number in text. The Chinese character system can be classified as part of the language, but it still counts as a number system. Most people in China now use the Arabic system.

The huama system, the only surviving variation of the rod numeral system, was once popular in use only in Chinese markets (e. Counting rods ( Japanese: 算木 sangi are small bars typically 3-14 cm long used by mathematicians for calculation in China, Japan g. in Hong Kong, before 1990). Hong Kong ( officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, is a territory located on China 's south coast on the Pearl River Delta, and borders The character writing system is still in use when writing numbers in long form, such as on cheques to hinder forgery.

Individual Chinese characters in this article link to their dictionary entries. A Chinese character, also known as a Han character ( is a Logogram used in writing Chinese (hanzi Japanese (

Contents 1 Written numbers 1.1 Numeral characters 1.2 Constructing numbers 1.3 Large number systems 1.4 Fractional values 1.5 Ordinal numbers 1.6 Negative numbers 1.7 SI prefixes 2 Suzhou numerals 3 Hand gestures 4 Cultural influences 5 See also 6 References 7 External links

Written numbers

The Chinese character numeral system consists of the Chinese characters used by the Chinese written language to write spoken numerals. A Chinese character, also known as a Han character ( is a Logogram used in writing Chinese (hanzi Japanese ( Written Chinese comprises the written symbols used to represent Spoken Chinese and the rules about how they are arranged and punctuated Similarly to spelled-out numbers in English (e. g. , "one thousand nine hundred forty-five"), it is not an independent system per se. And since it reflects spoken language, it does not use the positional system as is done in Arabic numeralss, in the same way that spelling out numbers in English does not. The arabic numerals (often capitalized are the ten Digits (0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 which—along with the system

Numeral characters

There are characters representing the numbers zero through nine, and other characters representing larger numbers such as tens, hundreds, thousands and so on. There are two sets of characters for Chinese numerals: one for everyday writing and one for use in commercial or financial contexts known as dàxiě (大寫 in traditional Chinese, 大写 in simplified Chinese). The latter arose because the characters used for writing numerals are geometrically simple, so simply using those numerals cannot prevent forgeries in the same way spelling numbers out in English would. A forger could easily change everyday characters 三十 (30) to 五千 (5000) by adding just a few strokes. That would not be possible when writing using the financial characters 叄拾 (30) and 伍仟 (5000).

S denotes Simplified, T denotes Traditional

Financial	Normal	Value	Pīnyīn	Notes
零	〇	0	líng	〇 is an informal way to represent zero, but 零 is more commonly used, especially in schools.
壹	一	1	yī	also 弌 (obsolete) also 么(T) or 幺(S) yāo when used in phone numbers etc. Mathematics For any number x: x ·1 = 1· x = x (1 is the multiplicative identity , see footnote 1.
貳(T) or 贰(S)	二	2	èr	also 弍 (obsolete) also 兩(T) or 两(S) liǎng when used when placed before a measure word. In mathematics Two has many properties in Mathematics. An Integer is called Even if it is divisible by 2 In the modern Chinese languages measure words or classifiers ( Cantonese (Yale: leung4 chi4) are used along with numerals to define the quantity
叄(T) or 叁(S)	三	3	sān	also 弎 (obsolete) also 參(T) or 参(S) sān. ---- In mathematics Three is the first odd Prime number, and the second smallest prime
肆	四	4	sì
伍	五	5	wǔ
陸(T) or 陆(S)	六	6	liù
柒	七	7	qī
捌	八	8	bā
玖	九	9	jiǔ
拾	十	10	shí	Although some people use 什 as financial, it is not acceptable because it can be written over into 伍. In mathematics Four is the smallest Composite number, its proper Divisors being and. This article discusses the number five. For the year 5 AD see 5. In mathematics Six is the second smallest Composite number, its proper Divisors being 1, 2 and 3. In mathematics Seven is the fourth Prime number. It is not only a Mersenne prime (since 23 &minus 1 = 7 but also a In mathematics 8 is a Composite number, its Proper divisors being 1, 2, and 4. In mathematics Nine is a Composite number, its proper Divisors being 1 and 3.
念 or 貳拾	廿 or 卄	20	niàn	卄 was rarely used, but still frequently used in spoken Chinese both used mostly on calendars (二十 is used). "Twenty" redirects here For the village in England, see Twenty Lincolnshire. see constructing numbers below.
叄拾	卅	30	sà	卅 was rarely used, but still frequently used in spoken Chinese used mostly on calendars (三十 is used). 30 ( thirty) is the Natural number following 29 and preceding 31.
肆拾	卌	40	xì	卌 was hardly used (四十 is used). 40 ( forty) is the Natural number following 39 and preceding 41.
佰	百	100	bǎi
仟	千	1,000	qiān
萬	萬(T) or 万(S)	104	wàn	Chinese numbers group by ten-thousands see constructing numbers below.
億	億(T) or 亿(S)	108	yì Also: 105. This list compares various sizes of positive Numbers including counts of things Dimensionless quantity and probabilities. This list compares various sizes of positive Numbers including counts of things Dimensionless quantity and probabilities. see large number systems below.
兆		1012	Also: 106, 1016. This list compares various sizes of positive Numbers including counts of things Dimensionless quantity and probabilities. The word million In standard English, the -lli- in million is pronounced with an l-sound followed by a Its usage has a dispute, see SI prefixes below.
京		1016		(Ancient Chinese) Also: 107, 1024, 1032. This list compares various sizes of positive Numbers including counts of things Dimensionless quantity and probabilities. also 經(T) or 经(S).
垓		1020		(Ancient Chinese) Also: 108, 1032, 1064. This list compares various sizes of positive Numbers including counts of things Dimensionless quantity and probabilities.
秭		1024		(Ancient Chinese) Also: 109, 1040, 10128. This list compares various sizes of positive Numbers including counts of things Dimensionless quantity and probabilities. This list compares various sizes of positive Numbers including counts of things Dimensionless quantity and probabilities. also 杼. 佑 (T) or 尧 (S) corresponds the SI prefix yotta. yotta- (symbol Y) is an SI prefix in the SI ( System of units) denoting 1024 or 1 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000
穰		1028		(Ancient Chinese) Also: 1010, 1048, 10256. also 壤.
溝(T) or 沟(S)		1032		(Ancient Chinese) Also: 1011, 1056, 10512.
澗(T) or 涧(S)		1036		(Ancient Chinese) Also: 1012, 1064, 101024. This list compares various sizes of positive Numbers including counts of things Dimensionless quantity and probabilities.
正		1040		(Ancient Chinese) Also: 1013, 1072, 102048.
載(T) or 载(S)		1044		(Ancient Chinese) Also: 1014, 1080, 104096.
極(T) or 极(S)		1048		(Buddhism)
恒河沙		1052		(Buddhism) The 3-character expression means roughly "Sand of the Ganges" and also appears in a Buddhist sutra; it is used in that context to convey a quantity equal to the number of grains of sand in the said river.
阿僧祇		1056		(Buddhism)
那由他		1060		(Buddhism)
不可思議(T) or 不可思议(S)		1064		(Buddhism) Literally translated as "unfathomable" or "unthinkable".
無量(T) or 无量(S)		1068		(Buddhism) Literally translated "without limit"
大數(T) or 大数(S)		1072		(Buddhism) Literally translated "big number"

么(T) or 幺(S) yāo, "the smallest", is used widely in mainland China as a replacement for yī in series of digits such as phone numbers, room numbers, etc. Mainland China, Continental China, the Chinese mainland or simply the mainland, is a geopolitical term synonymous with the area that is under the jurisdiction to prevent confusion between similar sounding words. It is never used in counting, nor is it used in Taiwan (except for soldiers in the ROC military, the police force, and the emergency telephone number 119 for calling a fire department or requesting an ambulance) or Hong Kong and Macau (except when communicating in Standard Mandarin). Taiwan ( Taiwanese: Tâi-oân/Tāi-oân (historically 大灣/台員/大員/台圓/大圓/台窩灣 is an Island in East Asia. A soldier is a general English term that refers to a member of a land component of National Armed forces. The Republic of China (ROC (commonly known as Taiwan maintains a large and technologically advanced military establishment which accounted for Police are agents or agencies usually of the executive, empowered to enforce the law and to effect public and social order through the legitimatized use of force A fire station (also called stationhouse) is a structure or other area set aside for storage of firefighting apparatus (i An ambulance is a Vehicle for transporting sick or injured people to from or between places of treatment for an Illness or Injury. Hong Kong ( officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, is a territory located on China 's south coast on the Pearl River Delta, and borders For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Macau topics. Standard Mandarin, also known as Standard Spoken Chinese, is the official modern Chinese spoken language used in mainland China and Taiwan

Character	Value	Notes
漠	10-12	(Ancient Chinese) 皮 corresponds the SI prefix pico.
渺	10-11	(Ancient Chinese)
埃	10-10	(Ancient Chinese)
塵	10-9	(Ancient Chinese) 奈 (T) or 纳 (S) corresponds the SI prefix nano.
沙	10-8	(Ancient Chinese)
纖	10-7	(Ancient Chinese)
微	10-6	still in use, corresponds the SI prefix micro. micro- ( µ) is a prefix in the SI and other systems of units denoting a factor of 10&minus6 (one Millionth.
忽	10-5	(Ancient Chinese)
絲	10-4	(Ancient Chinese)
毫	1/1,000	also 毛. still in use, corresponds the SI prefix milli. "Milli" redirects here for the village in Azerbaijan see Birinci Milli; for similar-sounding words see Millie.
厘	1/100	also 釐. In Mathematics and Arithmetic, a hundredth is one part of a unit or one divided equally into one hundred parts still in use, corresponds the SI prefix centi. centi- (symbol c) is a SI prefix in the SI system of units denoting a factor of 10−2 or 1/100
分	1/10	still in use, corresponds the SI prefix deci. deci- (symbol d) is a prefix in the SI system of units denoting a factor of 10−1 (1/10

Constructing numbers

Multiple-digit numbers are constructed using a multiplicative principle; first the digit itself (from 1 to 9), then the place (such as 10 or 100); then the next digit.

In Mandarin, the multiplier 兩 (liǎng) is used rather than 二 (èr) for all numbers greater than 200 with the "2" numeral. Use of both 兩 (liǎng) or 二 (èr) are acceptable for the number 200. When writing in the Cantonese dialect, 二 (yi⁶) is used to represent the "2" numeral for all numbers. In the southern Min dialect of Chaozhou (Teochew), 兩 (no⁶) is used to represent the "2" numeral in all numbers from 200 onwards. Thus:

Number	Structure	Characters
		Mandarin	Cantonese	Chaozhou	Shanghainese
60	[6] [10]	六十	六十	六十	六十
20	[2] [10] or [20]	二十	二十 or 廿	二十	廿
200	[2] (èr) or (liǎng) [100]	二百 or 兩百	二百 or 兩百	兩百	兩百
2000	[2] (liǎng) [1000]	兩千	二千 or 兩千	兩千	兩千
45	[4] [10] [5]	四十五	四十五 or 卌五	四十五	四十五
2,362	[2] [1,000] [3] [100] [6] [10] [2]	兩千三百六十二	二千三百六十二	兩千三百六十二	兩千三百六十二

For the numbers 11 through 19, the leading "one" (一) is usually omitted. Shanghainese (上海閒話 in Shanghainese sometimes referred to as the Shanghai dialect, is a dialect of Wu Chinese spoken in the city of Shanghai In some dialects, like Shanghainese, when there are only two significant digits in the number, the leading "one" and the trailing zeroes are omitted. Shanghainese (上海閒話 in Shanghainese sometimes referred to as the Shanghai dialect, is a dialect of Wu Chinese spoken in the city of Shanghai Sometimes, the one before "ten" in the middle of a number, such as 213, is omitted. Thus:

Number	Strict Putonghua		Colloquial or dialect usage
	Structure	Characters	Structure	Characters
14	[10] [4]	十四
12000	[1] [10000] [2] [1000]	一萬二千	[1] [10000] [2] or [10000] [2]	一萬二 or 萬二
114	[1] [100] [1] [10] [4]	一百一十四	[1] [100] [10] [4]	一百十四
1158	[1] [1000] [1] [100] [5] [10] [8]	一千一百五十八	See note 1 below

Notes:

1. Nothing is ever omitted in large and more complicated numbers such as this.

In certain older texts like the Protestant Bible or in poetic usage, numbers such as 114 may be written as [100] [10] [4] (百十四). Protestantism refers to the forms of Christian faith and practice that originated in the 16th century Protestant Reformation. Etymology According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, the word bible is from Latin biblia, traced from the same word through Medieval Latin and Late Latin

For numbers larger than a myriad, the same grouping system used in English applies, except in groups of four places (myriads) rather than in groups of three (thousands). Myriad is a classical Greek name for the Number 104 = 10000. In modern English the word refers to an unspecified large quantity Hence it is more convenient to think of numbers here as in groups of four, thus 1,234,567,890 is regrouped here as 12,3456,7890. Larger than a myriad, each number is therefore four zeroes longer than the one before it, thus 10000 × wàn (萬) = yì (億), 10000 × yì (億) = zhào (兆). If one of the numbers is between 10 and 19, the leading "one" is omitted as per the above point. Hence (numbers in parentheses indicate that the number has been written as one number rather than expanded):

Number	Structure	Characters
12,345,678,902,345 (12,3456,7890,2345)	(12) [1,0000,0000,0000] (3456) [1,0000,0000] (7890) [1,0000] (2345)	十二兆三千四百五十六億七千八百九十萬兩千三百四十五

Interior zeroes before the unit position (as in 1002) must be spelt explicitly. The reason for this is that trailing zeroes (as in 1200) are often omitted as shorthand, so ambiguity occurs. One zero is sufficient to resolve the ambiguity. Where the zero is before a digit other than the units digit, the explicit zero is not ambiguous and is therefore optional, but preferred. Thus:

Number	Structure	Characters
205	[2] [100] [0] [5]	二百零五
100,004 (10,0004)	[10] [10,000] [0] [4]	十萬零四
10,050,026 (1005,0026)	(1005) [10,000] (26) or (1005) [10,000] (026)	一千零五萬零二十六 or 一千零五萬二十六

Large number systems

For numeral characters greater than 萬 (wàn), there have been four systems in ancient and modern usage:

System	億 yì	兆 zhào	京 jīng	垓 gāi	秭 zǐ	穰 ráng	溝 gōu	澗 jiàn	正 zhēng	載 zài	Factor of increase
1	105	106	107	108	109	1010	1011	1012	1013	1014	Each numeral is 10 (十 shí) times the previous.
2	108	1012	1016	1020	1024	1028	1032	1036	1040	1044	Each numeral is 10,000 (萬 wàn) times the previous.
3	108	1016	1024	1032	1040	1048	1056	1064	1072	1080	Each numeral is 108 (萬萬 wànwàn) times the previous.
4	108	1016	1032	1064	10128	10256	10512	101024	102048	104096	Each numeral is the square of the previous. In Algebra, the square of a number is that number multiplied by itself

In modern Chinese, only the second system is used in expressing numbers. Although there is some dispute on the value of 兆 zhào, the usage (representing 10¹²) is still consistent through Chinese communities, as well as Japan, Korea. The Korean language has two regularly used sets of numerals a Sino-Korean system and a native Korean system However, most people do not recognize numerals beyond 億 yì (10⁸) and dictionary definitions on the words of larger number may not be consistent (except Korea where 兆zhào and 京jīng are frequently used) The numerals beyond 載 jí come from Buddhist texts in Sanskrit, but these "Buddhist numerals" have become "ancient usage". Buddhist texts can be categorized in a number of ways The Western terms "scripture" and "canonical" are applied to Buddhism in inconsistent ways by Western scholars Sanskrit (sa संस्कृता वाक् saṃskṛtā vāk, for short sa संस्कृतम् saṃskṛtam) is a historical

Fractional values

To construct a fraction, the denominator is written first, followed by 分之 ("parts of") and then the numerator. Numerator may refer to A numeral used to indicate a count particularly of the equal parts in a fraction For example in 3/4 3 is the numerator This is the opposite of how fractions are read in English, which is numerator first. Each half of the fraction is written the same as a whole number. Mixed numbers are written with the whole-number part first, followed by 又 ("again"), then the fractional part. In Mathematics, a fraction (from the Latin fractus, broken is a concept of a proportional relation between an object part and the object

Fraction	Structure	Characters
2/3	[3] [parts of] [2]	三分之二
15/32	[3] [10] [2] [parts of] [10] [5]	三十二分之十五
1/3000	[3] [1000] [parts of] [1]	三千分之一
3 5/6	[3] [again] [6] [parts of] [5]	三又六分之五

Percentages are constructed similarly, using 百 (100) as the denominator. The 一 (one) before 百 is omitted.

Percentage	Structure	Characters
25%	[100] [parts of] [2] [10] [5]	百分之二十五
110%	[100] [parts of] [1] [100] [1] [10]	百分之一百一十

Decimal numbers are constructed by first writing the whole number part, then inserting 點 (traditional) or 点 (simplified) ("point"), and finally the decimal expression. The decimal expression is written using only the digits for 0 to 9, without multiplicative words.

Decimal expression	Structure	Characters
16. 98	[10] [6] [point] [9] [8]	一十六點九八
12345. 6789	[1] [10000] [2] [100] [4] [10] [5] [point] [6] [7] [8] [9]	一萬兩千三百四十五點六七八九
75. 4025	[7] [10] [5] [point] [4] [0] [2] [5]	七十五點四零二五
0. 1	[0] [point] [1]	零點一

Ordinal numbers

Ordinal numbers are formed by adding 第 ("sequence") before the number.

Ordinal	Structure	Characters
1st	[sequence] [1]	第一
2nd	[sequence] [2]	第二
82nd	[sequence] [8] [10] [2]	第八十二

Negative numbers

Negative numbers are formed by adding 負 (traditional) 负 (simplified) ("negative") before the number.

Number	Structure	Characters
-1158	[negative] [1] [1000] [1] [100] [5] [10] [8]	負一千一百五十八
-3 5/6	[negative] [3] [again] [6] [parts of] [5]	負三又六分之五
-75. 4025	[negative] [7] [10] [5] [point] [4] [0] [2] [5]	負七十五點四零二五

SI prefixes

The translations for the SI prefixes in earlier days were different from those used today. An SI prefix (also known as a metric prefix) is a name or associated symbol that precedes a unit of measure (or its symbol to form a Decimal multiple or The larger (兆, 京, 垓, 秭, 穰), and smaller Chinese numerals (微, 纖, 沙, 塵, 渺) were defined as translations for the SI prefixes. For instance, 京 jīng was defined as giga, and 纖 xiān was defined as nano. This resulted in the creation of more values for each numeral.

By the time of "early translation", a dispute had arisen over the value of 兆 . The government of the PRC used a part of this translation, and defined 兆 zhào as the translation for the SI prefix mega (10⁶). (Perhaps the government was not aware of the common usage of 兆, and thus did not consider an alternative single Chinese character, such as 巨, to represent mega. ) Because of this, the translation has caused much confusion.

In addition, the Taiwanese government defined 百萬 as the translation for mega. This translation is widely used in official documents, academic communities, informational industries, etc. However, the civil broadcasting industries sometimes use 兆赫 to represent "megahertz". The hertz (symbol Hz) is a measure of Frequency, informally defined as the number of events occurring per Second.

Today, both the governments of the People's Republic of China (Mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau) and Republic of China (Taiwan) use phonetic transliterations for the SI prefixes. Talk People's Republic of China) PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA ARTICLE GUIDELINES Mainland China, Continental China, the Chinese mainland or simply the mainland, is a geopolitical term synonymous with the area that is under the jurisdiction Hong Kong ( officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, is a territory located on China 's south coast on the Pearl River Delta, and borders For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Macau topics. REPUBLIC OF CHINA ARTICLE GUIDELINES However, the governments have each chosen different Chinese characters for certain prefixes. The following table lists the two different standards together with the early translation.

SI Prefixes

Value	Symbol	English	Early translation	PRC standard	ROC standard
1024	Y	yotta		尧 yáo	佑 yòu
1021	Z	zetta		泽 zé	皆 jiē
1018	E	exa	穰 ráng	艾 ài	艾 ài
1015	P	peta	秭 zǐ	拍 pāi	拍 pāi
1012	T	tera	垓 gāi	太 tài	兆 zhào
109	G	giga	京 jīng	吉 jí	吉 jí
106	M	mega	兆 zhào	兆 zhào	百萬 bǎiwàn
103	k	kilo	千 qiān	千 qiān	千 qiān
102	h	hecta	百 bǎi	百 bǎi	百 bǎi
101	da	deca	十 shí	十 shí	十 shí
10-1	d	deci	分 fēn	分 fēn	分 fēn
10-2	c	centi	厘 lí	厘 lí	厘 lí
10-3	m	milli	毫 háo	毫 háo	毫 háo
10-6	µ	micro	微 wēi	微 wēi	微 wēi
10-9	n	nano	纖 xiān	纳 nà	奈 nài
10-12	p	pico	沙 shā	皮 pí	皮 pí
10-15	f	femto	塵 chén	飞 fēi	飛 fēi
10-18	a	atto	渺 miǎo	阿 à	阿 à
10-21	z	zepto		仄 zè	介 jiè
10-24	y	yocto		幺 yāo	攸 yōu

Suzhou numerals

Main article: Suzhou numerals

In the same way that Roman numerals were standard in ancient and medieval Europe for mathematics and commerce, the Chinese formerly used the rod numerals, which is a positional system. Talk People's Republic of China) PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA ARTICLE GUIDELINES REPUBLIC OF CHINA ARTICLE GUIDELINES yotta- (symbol Y) is an SI prefix in the SI ( System of units) denoting 1024 or 1 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 zetta- (symbol Z) is an SI prefix in the SI ( System of units) denoting 1021 or 1 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 exa- (symbol E) is a prefix in the SI system of units denoting 1018 or 1 000 000 000 000 000 000 In Physics and Mathematics, peta- (symbol P) is a prefix in the SI ( System of units) denoting 1015 TERA is a shielded Twisted pair connector for use with Category 7 twisted-pair data cables developed by The Siemon Company and standardized in 2003 by For other meanings see Giga (disambiguation Giga- (symbol G is a prefix in the SI system of units denoting 109 943 KILO is a radio station sponsored out of Colorado Springs and Pueblo, Colorado. hecto- or hecta- (symbol h) is a SI prefix in the SI system of units denoting a factor of 102 (100 deci- (symbol d) is a prefix in the SI system of units denoting a factor of 10−1 (1/10 centi- (symbol c) is a SI prefix in the SI system of units denoting a factor of 10−2 or 1/100 "Milli" redirects here for the village in Azerbaijan see Birinci Milli; for similar-sounding words see Millie. micro- ( µ) is a prefix in the SI and other systems of units denoting a factor of 10&minus6 (one Millionth. femto- is an SI prefix (symbol f) in the SI system of units denoting a factor of 10−15 or 0 zepto- (symbol z) is a prefix in the SI system of units denoting a factor of 10−21 yocto- (symbol y) is an SI prefix in the SI system of units denoting a factor of 10−24 or 0 The Suzhou numerals or huama is a Numeral system used in China before the introduction of Arabic numerals. Roman numerals are a Numeral system originating in ancient Rome, adapted from Etruscan numerals. Counting rods ( Japanese: 算木 sangi are small bars typically 3-14 cm long used by mathematicians for calculation in China, Japan The Suzhou (蘇州) or huāmǎ (花碼) system is a variation of the Southern Song rod numerals. Suzhou ( ancient name 吳) is a City on the lower reaches of the Yangtze River and on the shores of Lake Taihu in the province of Jiangsu The Song Dynasty ( Wade-Giles: Sung Ch'ao was a ruling dynasty in China between 960&ndash1279 CE it succeeded the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Nowadays, the huāmǎ system is only used for displaying prices in Chinese markets or on traditional handwritten invoices.

Hand gestures

Main article: Chinese number gestures

There is a common method of using of one hand to signify the numbers one to ten. Chinese number gestures are a method of using one hand to signify the Natural numbers one through ten While the five digits on one hand can express the numbers one to five, six to ten have special signs that can be used in commerce or day-to-day communication.

Cultural influences

During Ming and Qing dynasties (when Arabic numerals were first introduced into China), some Chinese mathematicians used Chinese numeral characters as positional system digits. The Ming Dynasty ( or Empire of the Great Ming ( was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol -led Not to be confused with Qin Dynasty, the first dynasty of Imperial China The arabic numerals (often capitalized are the ten Digits (0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 which—along with the system After Qing dynasty, both the Chinese numeral characters and the Suzhou numerals were replaced by Arabic numerals in mathematical writings. The arabic numerals (often capitalized are the ten Digits (0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 which—along with the system

Traditional Chinese numeric characters are also used in Japan and Korea. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics. Korea is a geographic area composed of two sovereign countries a civilization and a former state situated on the Korean Peninsula in East Asia. In vertical text (that is, read top to bottom), using characters for numbers is the norm, while in horizontal text, Arabic numerals are most common. Chinese numeric characters are also used in much the same formal or decorative fashion that Roman numerals are in Western cultures. Chinese numerals may appear together with Arabic numbers on the same sign or document.

See also

• Japanese numerals
• Numbers in Chinese culture
• Chinese units of measurement

References

External links

• Chinese/English Number Converter
• Learn how to write Chinese numbers

In Chinese culture, certain numbers are believed by some to be auspicious (吉利 or inauspicious (不利 based on the Chinese word that the number name sounds similar to Chinese units of measurement ( are the customary and traditional units of measure used in the People's Republic of China.

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