Chinese students are no strangers to the multiplication table. Known as jiujiu biao (Nine-nines rhyme), the multiplication table was already very popular as early as the seventh century BC in China according to historical records. It was titled this because when it was taught one would start with "nine times nine (9x9)" and work his or her way down to "1x1." In today's schools in China, students start with "1x1" and work their way up.

Recent archeological finds shows that a multiplication table found at the Gurendi cultural relics of the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220) in Zhangjiajie of Central China's Hunan Province was amazingly consistent with the table of today, although the handwriting on the table is quite illegible. The table was discovered on a 22cm-long wooden strip, which was broken when it was discovered.

Previously, another 2,200-year-old bamboo strip from the Qin Dynasty (221-206BC) with the carving of the multiplication table was found in the ancient Liye City in western Hunan Province, which is the earliest calculation table ever found in China.

Another multiplication table was discovered in documents from Loulan, which was written on two pieces of paper and discovered by Swedish explorer Sven Hedin a century ago.

Ancient Chinese were not the only people inventing multiplication tables as they have also been discovered on the clay tablets from ancient Babylon, but as the pronunciation of Chinese words is monosyllabic, the traditional Chinese multiplication table can be read smoothly and easily to be remembered and used.

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