Muli ~ Abacus Museum - Background story

Background story

I really don’t know.
A few years ago I clicked the wrong Youtube video and hours later I had a new hobby suddenly.
It started with one just out of curiosity and during the time my interest in them grew more and more and the hunt was started.
Now I have a small collection of them… well, I guess, this things happens sometimes. =)

An abacus is a great, simple and long existing tool used for counting and doing basic math calculations.
It’s made of a frame with rows of beads or stones that slide along rods. Each row represents a different place value, like units, tens, hundreds, and so on.
By moving the beads or stones around on the rods, you can add, subtract, multiply, and divide numbers.
It’s like a manual calculator that helps people perform arithmetic operations without needing electricity or batteries.
The abacus has been used for centuries in many cultures around the world as a helpful aid for calculations.

There is a significant difference between using a Western abacus with 10 beads and a Japanese soroban with just 5 beads (1:4 ratio).
In the West, we primarily focus on mentally handling complete calculations in mathematics, using the abacus merely as a visual aid to memorize interim results.
In contrast to that, the Soroban is utilized to quickly reach the final result.
This is why the manipulation of a Japanese abacus is complemented by specific rules designed for it. See some of them here soon!

These rules from above are applicable for numbers from 1 to 5 and for numbers from 5 to 9, providing a fixed setup indicating which beads should be slid to which position and column for each number. This is done without engaging in mental * calculations for basic operations like addition and subtraction.
To grasp the basic usage of a Soroban, one only needs to memorize approximately 13 specific number rules initially. With this limited set of rules, one can already solve complex calculations such as 45328153 + 51235472 + 789513 – 98712651 + 4098161 in a very short time and without resorting to mental arithmetic.
When learning to use an abacus as a child already, individuals also learn to mentally visualize the abacus and manipulate the beads over time. This skill aids in solving complex numerical calculations without the aid of an abacus, pen, or paper.

The Soroban is the Japanese abacus, featuring 1 bead at the top and 4 beads at the bottom.
The Suanpan, on the other hand, is the Chinese abacus, characterized by 2 beads at the top and 5 beads at the bottom.
Meanwhile, the Schoty serves as the Russian abacus, though its operation is more closely aligned with Western methods and primarily serves as a visual aid.
Historically, the original version of the abacus can be traced back to the Chinese variant with a ratio of 2 beads at the top to 5 beads at the bottom.
Over time, adaptations occurred in various countries such as Japan, resulting in reductions in the number of beads to 1 bead at the top and 5 beads at the bottom, and later eventually to the “modern” version with a ratio of 1 bead at the top and 4 beads at the bottom.
This evolution allowed for the development of specific number and sliding rules, which improves the handling and speed.