Actually, this question is not accurate. Roman numerals use decimal system (the origin may be related to five fingers of a hand), while Bolivian residents in South America still use decimal system; The decimal system was first used in ancient Egypt and China (the origin may be related to two hands with 10 fingers); The Mayans used the decimal system (the origin may be related to the number of fingers and toes being 20); The binary of 12 has appeared in history (the origin may be related to one-handed joints), such as 1 da =12; The decimal system of 16 has been used in real life since ancient times, such as the old system of 1 kg = 16 in China; Babylonia pioneered the hexadecimal system (the origin may be related to dividing the circumference into 360 parts), which is still in use today; China's binary system sprouted in Zhouyi. The present binary system was invented by Leibniz in17th century, and now it has become the mainstay of electronic computers. (For the above contents, please refer to History of Mathematical Symbols edited by Xu Pinfang and Zhang Hong, pp. 1 1 to 15. Therefore, the numbers in eastern and western mathematics did not use decimal system at the beginning of invention, and now they do not use decimal system at the same time, because at least 60 decimal system is still retained in the calculation of time and the use of angle system. First of all, it should be clear that the ancient numbers of China and Indian numbers are located in the East. When do westerners use the 10 decimal system in large quantities? Indian numerals gradually spread to Arabia through trade, Buddhism and foreign invasion, and were processed by Arabs to form Indo-Arabic numerals. In the 8th century, after the Arab invasion of Spain, Indian Arabic numerals were introduced to Spain, and then to Italy, France and Britain. /kloc-Roman numerals were still used in Europe in the 0/2nd century, and it was not until16th century that the Indian Arabic numerals we use now were formed. (See the history of mathematical symbols on pages 64 to 74 and 965,438+0. ) At this point, we know why 10 is widely used in eastern and western numerals. So why do both eastern and western mathematics use 10 extensively? Guess because Indian Arabic numerals are concise and beautiful, which well expresses their meanings and reduces the thinking burden of people who use mathematics, Indian Arabic numerals are widely accepted and used in mathematics, while Indian Arabic numerals are 10, so 10 is widely used in eastern and western mathematics. To sum up, 10 system originated from human production and life, and was widely spread due to trade, religion and war. On the other hand, people think that the use of modern decimal system benefits from the simplicity and elegance of Indian Arabic numerals, which lightens this burden.