Times Table
History of Multiplication Tables
In 2023, China’s National Cultural Heritage Administration announced the discovery of multiplication lists in a tomb. This is the earliest record ever found of multiplication lists. It was discovered in Hubei Province, China.
These ancient Chinese records did not use a symbol. They wrote out the math sentence.
Examples from the list include:
- “Five times seven is thirty plus five”
- “Four times seven is twenty plus eight”
- “Three times seven is twenty plus one”
This is the earliest record found. Scientists believe it was used by government officials for industrial calculations.
Using the Multiplication “Times Table”
There are many ways to make a list of multiplication equations.
Here is an easy list to make:
1×1=1 2×1=2 3×1=3
1×2=2 2×2=4 3×2=6
1×3=3 2×3=6 3×3=9
1×4=4 2×4=8 3×4=12
and so on.
Another very common way to record the multiplication answer is in a table format. This table is in a grid with lines.
For example,
| × | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 2 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 10 |
| 3 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 12 | 15 |
| 4 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 16 | 20 |
| 5 | 5 | 10 | 15 | 20 | 25 |
The table above is a guide for multiplication equations from 1 x 1 to 5 x 5.
There are other ways to write a multiplication guide. No matter how it is written, it is called a “times table”.
You can practice filling out a times table by printing the handout in this section.
Derived from Earliest multiplication tables discovered in 2,300-year-old Chinese tomb | Archaeology News Online Magazine accessed and available online 15 February 2025.
