How were irrational square roots represented in ancient Chinese mathematics?

In ancient Chinese mathematics, particularly as documented in The Nine Chapters, irrational square roots were represented using the phrase "side of N," which was understood to mean the "square root of N."1

When the standard algorithm for extracting the square root of an integer N did not terminate—indicating that N was not a perfect square—this terminology was employed to provide the result. Additionally, mathematicians like Liu Hui suggested that one could approximate these values by continuing the computation of the nonintegral portion, setting denominators of 10, 100, and so on, to express the root in terms comparable to decimal fractions. These quadratic irrationals were recognized as solutions to quadratic equations of the form $x^2=N$, and their use in computations is well-attested in historical commentaries.1