Abacus is a common calculation tool. Who is the inventor of abacus? What is the exact year of invention? We first saw the word "abacus" in Xu Yue's book Numerology Legacy in the Eastern Han Dynasty. However, the note says that only addition and subtraction can be done. Today, it seems that this theory is the embryonic form of an abacus. From the analysis of available reliable data, abacus was invented in Song and Yuan Dynasties. Cheng Dawei's "Directing at Arithmetic, Unifying Clan" (1592) in Ming Dynasty is the most widely circulated and influential book on abacus calculation.
People have consulted a large number of historical documents, and from the Song and Yuan Dynasties to the Cheng Dawei era (1553 ~ 1606), they can't find the name of the inventor of the abacus. In fact, the same is true of the above calculation and financing. On the one hand, it shows that feudal rulers did not pay enough attention to scientific and technological inventions, on the other hand, it also shows that their inventions are a gradual process, which is gradually improved and perfected, and it is difficult to say which party is responsible.
The abacus evolved from calculation. Due to the development of society, the speed and accuracy of calculation are increasingly demanding, so people have reformed the calculation and created various songs. For example, the melody of 14+7 is "seven divided by three is one". Similarly, the melody of 14-7 is "seven retreats, one returns three" and so on. All addition, subtraction, multiplication and division have a set of songs. In fact, before the abacus appeared, almost all the abacus rhymes were ready except for a few division rhymes.
After the appearance of rhyme, the calculation speed has increased, and it will be overwhelming to continue to fool around with calculation. Due to the limitation of the objective environment, many business people who do calculations outdoors are particularly prone to make mistakes. In this way, abacus instead of calculation has become an inevitable development trend, not only the conditions have been met, but also a very urgent matter. It was in this situation that craftsmen, calculators and businessmen at that time worked together to develop a sophisticated abacus.
The similarity between abacus and calculation is obvious. Among the calculated figures, one is raised to five and the other is raised to one; In the abacus plate, one bead in the file is five, and the next bead is one. There is an agreement in the calculation called "five", which means that five can't be represented by a single chip, which is why there are five beads in the middle of the abacus. Experts in the history of mathematics can also find the calculation basis that there are two beads in the middle of the abacus. The above facts are enough to prove that the abacus evolved from calculation.
The abacus is one of China's great scientific achievements in ancient times. It has the advantages of simple structure, simple operation and convenient carrying, so it is widely used and lasts for a long time. Until today, abacus calculation is still a compulsory course for primary school students in China. Although all kinds of electronic computers and calculators are quite popular in the market, their operation speed can't keep up with the abacus in the hands of skilled abacus operators when adding and subtracting.
After China showed his talents, abacus calculation spread to Korea, Japan, Southeast Asia and Arabia, and made great contributions to world civilization.