Overview
Tian yuan shu is a Chinese system of algebra for polynomial equations. Some of the earliest existing writings were created in the 13th century during the Yuan dynasty. However, the tianyuanshu method was known much earlier, in the Song dynasty and possibly before.
History
The Tianyuanshu was explained in the writings of Zhu Shijie (Jade Mirror of the Four Unknowns) and Li Zhi (Ceyuan haijing), two Chinese mathematicians during the Mongol Yuan dynasty.
However, after the Ming overthrew the Mongol Yuan, Zhu and Li's mathematical works went into disuse as the Ming literati became suspicious of knowledge imported from Mongol Yuan times.
Only recently, with the advent of modern mathematics in China, has the tianyuanshu been re-deciphered.
From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).