The Roman abacus influenced the design of the Chinese Abacus. The Chinese referred to Abacus using a variety of names like Supan, Jusan, and Jupan. It was designed in such a way to calculate up to limitless precision The Chinese call it the 2:5 abacus, based on its structure. Typically made of hardwood, the Suanpan abacus was 20 cms long. Since then, they have started using it as the main mode of calculations. That is when the Chinese termed abacus as the “ball arithmetic”.

Undoubtedly, It was widespread towards the end of the 16th century.

The Modern numbering system was based on Hindu-Arabic mathematics. It was eventually a failure because of its construction. However, this invention was quite a complication to the calculations since it had two beads on the upper deck. The ancient Chinese abacus, called SUANPAN, was developed in the twelfth century and did not attain fame till the fourteenth century. As time passed by, with the advent of modern technologies, the Romans switched to micro calculators in 1974. The lower grooves marked the place value from tens to millions. The beads in the upper groove marked the place value of fives. The last two columns were used for the Roman mixed- base math. On the other hand, the lower ones had four beads. Their Abacus kit consisted of seven long and shorter grooves. Also, they called the counting board Calculi. The Romans used Abacus to calculate, by using the Roman numerals. The rows represented the place value of numbers accordingly. Types of Romanian AbacusĪlso, the Romans invented three different types of the abacus. It was a stone table with movable stones sliding up and down. Romans developed an easier way to use the abacus called the ‘Roman Hand Abacus’. This description gave rise to the Greek word ‘ABAX’ from which abacus sourced its etymology.Īs time passed, numbers and calculations emerged as a vital part of trade and commerce. The earliest form of abacus was a reckoning table covered with sand or fine dust, in which fingers were drawn using a stylus, and erased with the same, when necessary. However, there are no facts that support the confirmed statement about the invention of the abacus. The design of abacus kits remains to be in a combination of rods and pebbles. Time, people and technology improved the abacus. As time passed by, the design of an abacus kit has widely varied in terms of style, size and material. Countries like Taiwan, Korea, Malaysia and Japan were smitten by the abacus fever. Meanwhile, the abundant fame of success for abacus began to spread. Historians believe it was the Chinese minds who invented the Abacus around 500BC. Besides, it has its share of evolution in terms of design and usage. Abacus is a man-made calculating device invented 5000 years ago.

Chinese abacus picture