Zu Chongzhi's grandfather, Zuchang, was an official in charge of royal architecture in the Song Dynasty. Zu Chongzhi grew up in such a family and learned a lot from childhood. People all praise him as a knowledgeable young man. He especially likes studying mathematics, and he also likes studying astronomical calendars. He often observes the movements of the sun and planets and makes detailed records.
When Emperor Xiaowu of Song heard of his fame, he sent him to work in a government office specializing in academic research in Hualin Province. He is not interested in being an official, but he can concentrate more on mathematics and astronomy there.
In China, there were officials who studied astronomy in the past dynasties, and made calendars according to the results of astronomical research. By the Song Dynasty, the calendar had made great progress, but Zu Chongzhi thought it was not accurate enough. Based on his long-term observation, he created a new calendar called "Daming Calendar" ("Daming" is the title of Emperor Xiaowu of Song Dynasty). The number of days in each tropical year measured by this calendar (that is, the time between winter and sun in two years) is only 50 seconds different from that measured by modern science; It takes less than one second to measure the number of days for the moon to make one revolution, which shows its accuracy.
In 462 AD, Zu Chongzhi requested Emperor Xiaowu of Song Dynasty to issue a new calendar, and Emperor Xiaowu called ministers to discuss it. At that time, Dai Faxing, one of the emperor's minions, stood out against it and thought that it was deviant for Zu Chongzhi to change the ancient calendar without authorization.
Zu Chongzhi refuted Defarge on the spot with his own research data. Relying on the emperor's favor, Dai Faxing said arrogantly: "The calendar was formulated by the ancients and cannot be changed by future generations."
Zu Chongzhi is not afraid at all. He said very seriously, "If you have a solid basis, argue it out. Don't scare people with empty talk. "
Emperor Xiaowu of Song wanted to help Dai Faxing, and found some people who knew the calendar to argue with Zu Chongzhi, but Zu Chongzhi refuted them one by one. However, Emperor Xiaowu of Song still refused to issue a new calendar. It was not until ten years after Zu Chongzhi's death that his Da Ming Li was put into practice.
Although the society was very turbulent at that time, Zu Chongzhi studied science tirelessly. His greater achievement is in mathematics. He once annotated the ancient mathematics book Nine Chapters Arithmetic and wrote a book Composition. His most outstanding contribution is to get quite accurate pi. After a long and arduous study, he calculated pi between 3. 14 15926 and 3. 14 15927, becoming the first scientist in the world to calculate pi to more than seven digits.
Zu Chongzhi is a generalist in scientific inventions. He built a kind of compass, and the copper man in the car always pointed south. He also built a "Thousand-Li Ship" and tried it in Xinting River (now southwest of Nanjing). It can sail 100 Li a day. He also used hydraulic power to rotate the stone mill, pounding rice and grinding millet, which was called "water hammer mill".
After Zu Chongzhi's death, his son Zu Xuan and grandson Zu Hao both inherited Zu Chongzhi's career and studied mathematics and calendar hard. It is said that Zuxuan was so absorbed in his study that he couldn't even hear the thunder. He often thinks while walking. Once, he was walking on the road when a big bureaucrat, Xu Mian, came up to him. Zuxuan didn't notice and bumped into Xu Mian. When Xu Mian greeted him, Zu Xuancai woke up like a dream and hurriedly resaluted him. Xu Mian knows that he has studied God, and he doesn't blame him.
In Zu Chongzhi's later years, Xiao Daocheng, who mastered the Song Guards, wiped out the Song Dynasty.
In 479 AD, Xiao Daocheng proclaimed himself emperor and established Nanqi. He is the Emperor Gaudi of Qi.