The Jinkōki Phenomenon: The Story of a Longstanding Calculation Manual in Tokugawa Japan
Résumé
The Jinkōki's first edition was published in 1627 by Yoshida Mitsuyoshi (1598-1672), when commercial publishing in Kyoto was still in its early stares. Despite its voluminous size and the fact that it was not initially intended for a popular audience, the book met with immediate success, which prompted Yoshida to undertake many revisions. After Yoshida's death, the Jinkōki's success continued to grow. Of the myriad mathematical books that followed, many made use of the expression Jinkōki in their titles and the term came to stand for "manual of computation".