Incognito: The secret lives of Liu Hui in 19th-century China

The name of Liu Hui (刘徽) is rarely seen in late imperial Chinese mathematical sources, not to speak of non-Chinese writings, in which his name is never mentioned, except by Alexander Wylie in his Notes on Chinese Literature (1867). But does such silencing of the 3rd-century commentator on the most important collection of mathematical problems from ancient China imply that Liu Hui had no influence on mathematical practices in the 19th century and beyond? By looking at the language, argumentation structures and objects of research of mathematicians, it is possible to uncover the lasting influence of Liu Hui's thought and writings in the context of a rapidly changing scientific landscape, at a time when China became globally more entangled. It was then that the mathematical heritage of ancient China was revived, not for the sake of historical research, but as part of a political and educational programme. This article suggests to equally follow traces of mathematical learning and conceptual developments grounded in Liu Hui's 3rd-century commentary on the canonical Nine Chapters on Mathematical Procedures (九章算术) and thereby identifies an eventual ‘soft power’ 1 of mathematical knowledge from antiquity.