The Chinese seemed to have little problem in dealing with negatives. They were familiar with the laws of signs as of about +1299 (stated in Suan Hsueh Chhi Meng). Like many current and following mathematicians and cultures the Chinese realised that it was possible that equations could result in negative answers but considered this absurd and therefore ignored them.
They had two methods of writing negative numbers: in black to distinguish them from the red positive numbers or, they drew a diagonal stroke through the right hand digit figure of the negative number.
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