The history of the number 0 can be extended from the early civilization of the crescent land (now called the Middle East) to the present. This means that there is no simple answer to the question of who invented the number 0, because different civilizations have expanded this concept for thousands of years. The basic history of numbers, at least until today, the standard system is composed of numbers designed by many famous Arab mathematicians.

The origin of "0"

876 quality stone tablet

The dot representing zero in Indian numerals gradually evolved into a circle, that is, the evolution of "0" was completed at the latest in the ninth century. The Gualier stone tablet unearthed in India in 876 witnessed this process. There is an unmistakable "0" on the stone tablet, which is a great invention in the history of mathematics. The appearance of "0" is a great creation in the history of mathematics. "0" has always been called Arabic numerals. In fact, it originated in ancient India, and its origin was deeply influenced by Mahayana Buddhism. Mahayana Kongzong was popular in ancient India from the third to the sixth century. It was in the late stage of its popularity that India produced a new decimal notation for integers, which stipulated the symbols of ten numbers. In the past, the calculation of space-time potential was a little over ten. Represented by ".",then "0" was invented instead. The Sanskrit name of "0" is Sunya, the Chinese transliteration is Shunruo, and the free translation is empty. Multiply 0 by any number, and this number is 0. Mahayana Kongzong was founded by Indian Dragon Tree and his disciple Tipo, emphasizing that "everything is empty". This particularity of 0 reflects the trace left by the proposition that "everything is empty". 0 is the dividing point between positive and negative numbers, and it is also the origin on Cartesian coordinate axis in analytic geometry. Without 0, there is no origin, and without coordinate system, the building of geometry will fall apart. This understanding may also be inspired by Mahayana Kongzong. In a sense, the emptiness of Mahayana Kongzong can also be regarded as the origin and fundamental starting point for Buddhism to understand everything. Mahayana Kongzong believes that whether it is a positive heaven or a negative hell, whether it is a god or a demon, it is inevitable to enter the phase and cannot escape the pain of reincarnation. When the gods enjoy all the blessings, they will still fall into the path of animals or hungry ghosts, or they may do the opposite and become demons. Mahayana Buddhism stresses "emptiness" and "being", both of which emphasize non-persistence. This statement is similar to the particularity of 0 in mathematics and philosophy. In the middle of the 7th century, Indian notation began to spread to the west, and it was introduced to Arab countries at the end of the 8th century. After being improved by Arabs, Indian numerals were introduced into Europe and called Arabic numerals or Indo-Arabic numerals.

Because zero represents the sum of nothing, it took many years for ancient mathematics to fully understand the concept of zero sum. However, many ancient thinkers tried to conceive mathematical theories, which depended on numbers that people could not see or calculate with the naked eye. Although zero represents nothingness, its development process is by no means a history of nothingness.