Editing Suzhou numerals (section)

==History==
[[File:蘇州碼子五及九的來源.svg|thumb|150px|The Suzhou numerals for 5 and 9 come from their respective horizontal forms of the rod numerals, combining a vertical rod for 5 and a circle for 0 or a cross for 4 respectively. Note that circles are written clockwise traditionally in China.]]
The Suzhou numeral system is the only surviving variation of the [[rod numeral]] system. The rod numeral system is a [[positional notation|positional]] numeral system used by the Chinese in mathematics. Suzhou numerals are a variation of the [[Song dynasty|Southern Song]] rod numerals.

Suzhou numerals were used as shorthand in number-intensive areas of commerce such as accounting and bookkeeping. At the same time, standard [[Chinese numerals]] were used in formal writing, akin to spelling out the numbers in English. Suzhou numerals were once popular in Chinese marketplaces, such as those in [[Hong Kong]] and Chinese restaurants in [[Malaysia]] before the 1990s, but they have gradually been supplanted by Hindu numerals.{{Citation needed|date=May 2011}} This is similar to what had happened in Europe with [[Roman numerals]] used in ancient and medieval Europe for mathematics and commerce. Nowadays, the Suzhou numeral system is only used for displaying prices in Chinese markets<ref name="UTN27" /> or on traditional handwritten invoices.{{Citation needed|date=June 2013}}