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. 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.

Family background:

From the end of the Western Jin Dynasty to the Sixteen Kingdoms period, a large-scale war broke out in the north. Zu Chongzhi's ancestors moved from Fanyang County (now Laishui County, Hebei Province) to Jiankang, the capital of the Eastern Jin Dynasty (now Nanjing City, Jiangsu Province). Zu Chongzhi was born in Jiankang, and his grandfather Zuchang was a great craftsman in Song Dynasty. He is an official in charge of civil engineering in the imperial court. His father, Zushuo, wrote "Invitation to the Imperial Court", which is very knowledgeable. He is often invited to attend royal ceremonies and ceremonies.

Zu Chongzhi received a good family education from an early age. Grandpa told him "The Stars Move", his father led him to read the classics, his family's edification and his own diligence made him interested in natural science, literature, philosophy, especially astronomy, and he gained a reputation for erudition in his youth.