Editing Numeral system (section)

===Other historical numeral systems using digits===
The exact age of the [[Maya numerals]] is unclear, but it is possible that it is older than the Hindu–Arabic system. The system was [[vigesimal]] (base&nbsp;20), so it has twenty digits. The Mayas used a shell symbol to represent zero. Numerals were written vertically, with the ones place at the bottom. The [[Mayas]] had no equivalent of the modern [[decimal separator]], so their system could not represent fractions.{{Citation needed|date=November 2024}}

The [[Thai numerals|Thai numeral system]] is identical to the [[Hindu–Arabic numeral system]] except for the symbols used to represent digits. The use of these digits is less common in [[Thailand]] than it once was, but they are still used alongside Arabic numerals.<ref>{{cite news |title=Wissanu rejects dumping Thai numerals |url=https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2318442/wissanu-rejects-dumping-thai-numerals |access-date=27 November 2024 |work=Bangkok Post |date=31 May 2022}}</ref>

The rod numerals, the written forms of [[counting rods]] once used by [[China|Chinese]] and [[Japan]]ese mathematicians, are a decimal positional system used for performing decimal calculations. Rods were placed on a counting board and slid forwards or backwards to change the decimal place. The ''[[Sunzi Suanjing|Sūnzĭ Suànjīng]]'', a mathematical treatise dated to between the 3rd and 5th centuries AD, provides detailed instructions for the system, which is thought to have been in use since at least the 4th century BC.<ref>{{MacTutor|class=HistTopics|id=Chinese_numerals|title=Chinese numerals|date=January 2004}}</ref> Zero was not initially treated as a number, but as a vacant position.<ref name="Crossley">{{Cite book |last1=Shen |first1=Kangshen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eiTJHRGTG6YC |title=The Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art: Companion and Commentary |last2=Crossley |first2=John N. |last3=Lun |first3=Anthony W.-C. |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1999 |isbn=978-0-19-853936-0 |page=35 |quote=zero was regarded as a number in India ... whereas the Chinese employed a vacant position |author1-mask=Shen Kanshen}}</ref> Later sources introduced conventions for the expression of zero and negative numbers. The use of a round symbol {{Lang|zh|〇}} for zero is first attested in the ''[[Mathematical Treatise in Nine Sections]]'' of 1247 AD.<ref name="Qin">{{Cite web |title=Mathematics in the Near and Far East |url=http://grmath4.phpnet.us/istoria/the_history_of%20math_greece/the_history_of%20math_greece_3-5.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131104120005/http://grmath4.phpnet.us/istoria/the_history_of%20math_greece/the_history_of%20math_greece_3-5.pdf |archive-date=4 November 2013 |access-date=7 June 2012 |website=grmath4.phpnet.us |page=262}}</ref> The origin of this symbol is unknown; it may have been produced by modifying a square symbol.<ref>{{cite book |last=Martzloff |first=Jean-Claude |title=A History of Chinese Mathematics |publisher=Springer |year=2007 |isbn=978-3-540-33783-6 |page=208 |translator-last1=Wilson |translator-first1=Stephen S.}}</ref> The [[Suzhou numerals]], a descendant of rod numerals, are still used today for some commercial purposes.{{Citation needed|date=November 2024}}

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+ Rod numerals (vertical)
|-
! style="width:50px" | 0
! style="width:50px" | 1
! style="width:50px" | 2
! style="width:50px" | 3
! style="width:50px" | 4
! style="width:50px" | 5
! style="width:50px" | 6
! style="width:50px" | 7
! style="width:50px" | 8
! style="width:50px" | 9
|-
| [[Image:Counting rod 0.png]]
| [[Image:Counting rod v1.png]]
| [[Image:Counting rod v2.png]]
| [[Image:Counting rod v3.png]]
| [[Image:Counting rod v4.png]]
| [[Image:Counting rod v5.png]]
| [[Image:Counting rod v6.png]]
| [[Image:Counting rod v7.png]]
| [[Image:Counting rod v8.png]]
| [[Image:Counting rod v9.png]]
|-
! style="width:50px" | –0
! style="width:50px" | –1
! style="width:50px" | –2
! style="width:50px" | –3
! style="width:50px" | –4
! style="width:50px" | –5
! style="width:50px" | –6
! style="width:50px" | –7
! style="width:50px" | –8
! style="width:50px" | –9
|-
| [[Image:Counting rod -0.png]]
| [[Image:Counting rod v-1.png]]
| [[Image:Counting rod v-2.png]]
| [[Image:Counting rod v-3.png]]
| [[Image:Counting rod v-4.png]]
| [[Image:Counting rod v-5.png]]
| [[Image:Counting rod v-6.png]]
| [[Image:Counting rod v-7.png]]
| [[Image:Counting rod v-8.png]]
| [[Image:Counting rod v-9.png]]
|}