Where does “鶴亀算” come from?

鶴亀算 (Japanese) comes from Japanese 鶴, from Middle Chinese 鶴.

鶴亀算 (Japanese): a common mathematical riddle in Japan. It is often stated as follows: "There are some cranes and some turtles. The count of heads is X and the count of legs is Y. How many cranes and turtles are there respectively?" The answer is that the number of cranes is 2X-(Y/2) and the number of turtles is (Y/

Definitions

  1. a common mathematical riddle in Japan. It is often stated as follows: "There are some cranes and some turtles. The count of heads is X and the count of legs is Y. How many cranes and turtles are there respectively?" The answer is that the number of cranes is 2X-(Y/2) and the number of turtles is (Y/

Ancestry of “鶴亀算”, step by step

鶴亀算 traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.

via Japanese 鶴

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese鶴a crane
2Middle Chinese鶴—

via Japanese 亀

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese亀a tortoise or turtle; a drunkard; a 家紋 with...
2Middle Chinese龜—

via Japanese 算

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Japanese算—
Every word from Middle Chinese 鶴 →Every word from Japanese 鶴 →