Japan (Soroban)
Japan, the abacus is called soroban (算盤, そろばん, lit. “counting tray”). It was imported from China in the 14th century.[46] It was probably in use by the working class a century or more before the ruling class adopted it, as the class structure obstructed such changes.[47] The 1:4 abacus, which removes the seldom-used second and fifth bead, became popular in the 1940s.
Today’s Japanese abacus is a 1:4 type, four-bead abacus, introduced from China in the Muromachi era. It adopts the form of the upper deck one bead and the bottom four beads. The top bead on the upper deck was equal to five and the bottom one is similar to the Chinese or Korean abacus, and the decimal number can be expressed, so the abacus is designed as a 1:4 device. The beads are always in the shape of a diamond. The quotient division is generally used instead of the division method; at the same time, in order to make the multiplication and division digits consistently use the division multiplication. Later, Japan had a 3:5 abacus called 天三算盤, which is now in the Ize Rongji collection of Shansi Village in Yamagata City. Japan also used a 2:5 type abacus.
The four-bead abacus spread, and became common around the world. Improvements to the Japanese abacus arose in various places. In China, an abacus with an aluminium frame and plastic beads has been used. The file is next to the four beads, and pressing the “clearing” button puts the upper bead in the upper position, and the lower bead in the lower position. The abacus is still manufactured in Japan, despite the proliferation, practicality, and affordability of pocket electronic calculators. The use of the soroban is still taught in Japanese primary schools as part of mathematics, primarily as an aid to faster mental calculation. Using visual imagery, one can complete a calculation as quickly as with a physical instrument.[48] Korea edit The Chinese abacus migrated from China to Korea around 1400 AD.[25][49][50] Koreans call the abacus jupan (주판) or supan (수판), and the act of using a jupan is jusan (주산).[51] The four-beads abacus (1:4) was introduced during the Goryeo Dynasty. The 5:1 abacus was introduced to Korea from China during the Ming Dynasty. India edit The Abhidharmakośabhāṣya of Vasubandhu (316–396), a Sanskrit work on Buddhist philosophy, says that the second-century CE philosopher Vasumitra said that “placing a wick (Sanskrit vartikā) on the number one (ekāṅka) means it is a one while placing the wick on the number hundred means it is called a hundred, and on the number one thousand means it is a thousand”. It is unclear exactly what this arrangement may have been. Around the 5th century, Indian clerks were already finding new ways of recording the contents of the abacus.[52] Hindu texts used the term śūnya (zero) to indicate the empty column on the abacus.[53] Since 2020, the organization Indian Abacus has run a national abacus competition in India.[54] Americas edit Mesoamerica edit Some sources mention the use of an abacus called a nepohualtzintzin in ancient Aztec culture.[55] This Mesoamerican abacus used a 5-digit base-20 system.[56] The word Nepōhualtzintzin Nahuatl pronunciation: [nepoːwaɬˈt͡sint͡sin] comes from Nahuatl, formed by the roots; Ne – personal -; pōhual or pōhualli Nahuatl pronunciation: [ˈpoːwalːi] – the account -; and tzintzin Nahuatl pronunciation: [ˈt͡sint͡sin] – small similar elements. Its complete meaning was taken as: counting with small similar elements. Its use was taught in the Calmecac to the temalpouhqueh Nahuatl pronunciation: [temaɬˈpoʍkeʔ], who were students dedicated to taking the accounts of skies, from childhood. The Nepōhualtzintzin was divided into two main parts separated by a bar or intermediate cord. In the left part were four beads. Beads in the first row have unitary values (1, 2, 3, and 4), and on the right side, three beads had values of 5, 10, and 15, respectively. In order to know the value of the respective beads of the upper rows, it is enough to multiply by 20 (by each row), the value of the corresponding count in the first row. The device featured 13 rows with 7 beads, 91 in total. This was a basic number for this culture. It had a close relation to natural phenomena, the underworld, and the cycles of the heavens. One Nepōhualtzintzin (91) represented the number of days that a season of the year lasts, two Nepōhualtzitzin (182) is the number of days of the corn’s cycle, from its sowing to its harvest, three Nepōhualtzintzin (273) is the number of days of a baby’s gestation, and four Nepōhualtzintzin (364) completed a cycle and approximated one year. When translated into modern computer arithmetic, the Nepōhualtzintzin amounted to the rank from 10 to 18 in floating point, which precisely calculated large and small amounts, although round off was not allowed. The rediscovery of the Nepōhualtzintzin was due to the Mexican engineer David Esparza Hidalgo,[57] who in his travels throughout Mexico found diverse engravings and paintings of this instrument and reconstructed several of them in gold, jade, encrustations of shell, etc.[58] Very old Nepōhualtzintzin are attributed to the Olmec culture, and some bracelets of Mayan origin, as well as a diversity of forms and materials in other cultures. Sanchez wrote in Arithmetic in Maya that another base 5, base 4 abacus had been found in the Yucatán Peninsula that also computed calendar data. This was a finger abacus, on one hand, 0, 1, 2, 3, and 4 were used; and on the other hand 0, 1, 2, and 3 were used. Note the use of zero at the beginning and end of the two cycles.
The four-bead abacus spread, and became common around the world. Improvements to the Japanese abacus arose in various places. In China, an abacus with an aluminium frame and plastic beads has been used. The file is next to the four beads, and pressing the “clearing” button puts the upper bead in the upper position, and the lower bead in the lower position. The abacus is still manufactured in Japan, despite the proliferation, practicality, and affordability of pocket electronic calculators. The use of the soroban is still taught in Japanese primary schools as part of mathematics, primarily as an aid to faster mental calculation. Using visual imagery, one can complete a calculation as quickly as with a physical instrument.[48] Korea edit The Chinese abacus migrated from China to Korea around 1400 AD.[25][49][50] Koreans call the abacus jupan (주판) or supan (수판), and the act of using a jupan is jusan (주산).[51] The four-beads abacus (1:4) was introduced during the Goryeo Dynasty. The 5:1 abacus was introduced to Korea from China during the Ming Dynasty. India edit The Abhidharmakośabhāṣya of Vasubandhu (316–396), a Sanskrit work on Buddhist philosophy, says that the second-century CE philosopher Vasumitra said that “placing a wick (Sanskrit vartikā) on the number one (ekāṅka) means it is a one while placing the wick on the number hundred means it is called a hundred, and on the number one thousand means it is a thousand”. It is unclear exactly what this arrangement may have been. Around the 5th century, Indian clerks were already finding new ways of recording the contents of the abacus.[52] Hindu texts used the term śūnya (zero) to indicate the empty column on the abacus.[53] Since 2020, the organization Indian Abacus has run a national abacus competition in India.[54] Americas edit Mesoamerica edit Some sources mention the use of an abacus called a nepohualtzintzin in ancient Aztec culture.[55] This Mesoamerican abacus used a 5-digit base-20 system.[56] The word Nepōhualtzintzin Nahuatl pronunciation: [nepoːwaɬˈt͡sint͡sin] comes from Nahuatl, formed by the roots; Ne – personal -; pōhual or pōhualli Nahuatl pronunciation: [ˈpoːwalːi] – the account -; and tzintzin Nahuatl pronunciation: [ˈt͡sint͡sin] – small similar elements. Its complete meaning was taken as: counting with small similar elements. Its use was taught in the Calmecac to the temalpouhqueh Nahuatl pronunciation: [temaɬˈpoʍkeʔ], who were students dedicated to taking the accounts of skies, from childhood. The Nepōhualtzintzin was divided into two main parts separated by a bar or intermediate cord. In the left part were four beads. Beads in the first row have unitary values (1, 2, 3, and 4), and on the right side, three beads had values of 5, 10, and 15, respectively. In order to know the value of the respective beads of the upper rows, it is enough to multiply by 20 (by each row), the value of the corresponding count in the first row. The device featured 13 rows with 7 beads, 91 in total. This was a basic number for this culture. It had a close relation to natural phenomena, the underworld, and the cycles of the heavens. One Nepōhualtzintzin (91) represented the number of days that a season of the year lasts, two Nepōhualtzitzin (182) is the number of days of the corn’s cycle, from its sowing to its harvest, three Nepōhualtzintzin (273) is the number of days of a baby’s gestation, and four Nepōhualtzintzin (364) completed a cycle and approximated one year. When translated into modern computer arithmetic, the Nepōhualtzintzin amounted to the rank from 10 to 18 in floating point, which precisely calculated large and small amounts, although round off was not allowed. The rediscovery of the Nepōhualtzintzin was due to the Mexican engineer David Esparza Hidalgo,[57] who in his travels throughout Mexico found diverse engravings and paintings of this instrument and reconstructed several of them in gold, jade, encrustations of shell, etc.[58] Very old Nepōhualtzintzin are attributed to the Olmec culture, and some bracelets of Mayan origin, as well as a diversity of forms and materials in other cultures. Sanchez wrote in Arithmetic in Maya that another base 5, base 4 abacus had been found in the Yucatán Peninsula that also computed calendar data. This was a finger abacus, on one hand, 0, 1, 2, 3, and 4 were used; and on the other hand 0, 1, 2, and 3 were used. Note the use of zero at the beginning and end of the two cycles.