Master Sun’s Calculation
Calculation 2-23 original: "算 二二十三"; this likely refers to a library shelf-mark or a specific folio numbering in the collection.

Preface to Master Sun’s Mathematical Classic

Master Sun says: Indeed, calculation is the longitude and latitude of heaven and earth, the head and source of all living things, the beginning and end of the Five Constants|the core Confucian virtues of benevolence, righteousness, ritual, wisdom, and trustworthiness, the parent of Yin and Yang|the balancing forces of the natural world, the title and rank of the stars, the inner and outer of the Three Lights|the sun, moon, and stars, the standard of the Five Elements|the creative and destructive cycle of wood, fire, earth, metal, and water, the start and finish of the four seasons, the ancestor of the ten thousand things, and the governing principle of the Six Arts|the traditional curriculum for a gentleman: rites, music, archery, charioteering, calligraphy, and mathematics.

By calculation, one investigates the gathering and scattering of all social orders, examines the falling and rising of the two breaths of nature, and tracks the alternating movement of heat and cold. It allows us to pace the distances of far and near, to observe the subtle and profound foundations of the Way of Heaven, and to survey the lengths and widths of the geography of the earth. We use it to gather the locations of the spirits and divinities, to reach the ultimate proof of success and failure, to exhaust the principles of morality, and to investigate the true nature of life and destiny.

It establishes the compass and the square, standardizing the circle and the rectangle. It ensures careful observance of laws and measures, and regulates the units of the ruler and the yard|linear measurements. It sets the weights and balances to level the heavy and the light. It dissects the milli and the micro|fine decimal units based on the width of a hair, analyzes the millet grains|the smallest unit of weight based on a single seed, and calculates into the hundreds of millions.