Chinese scientists found the world's oldest decimal multiplication table. Photo

Chinese archaeologists have found records of a formula for multiplying decimal numbers made more than 2,300 years ago, the world's oldest written evidence of a multiplication table.

The mathematical formula records, made on a piece of bamboo leaf, were discovered by scientists exploring ancient tombs in Jingzhou, Hubei province in central China, Xinhua reports.

According to the researchers, the discovery, which dates back to the fourth century BC during the Warring States period (475-221 BC), predates the previously discovered similar record of the multiplication table by about a century.

Scientists used infrared scanning and found words on the leaf, "Five times seven is thirty plus five, four times seven is twenty plus eight, three times seven is twenty plus one."

Local historians point out that the number multiplication formula was already popular during the Warring States period when Chinese officials used it to calculate production, property, and other figures.