Suan-p'an, or Chinese Abacus

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CHINESE ABACUS

Object Details

Description

This abacus fits in a black wooden box with a wooden cross piece. Eleven parallel bamboo rods carry seven beads each. Two beads are above the cross piece, five below. The beads are rounded, like those on Chinese abaci. One rod is broken and another cracked. The abacus was received as a gift from the Department of Mathematics of Brown University in 1973. There are no marks by a maker.

Credit Line

Gift of Brown University Department of Mathematics

ID Number

MA.304722.01

catalog number

304722.01

accession number

304722

Object Name

abacus

Physical Description

bamboo (overall material)

wood (overall material)

Measurements

overall: 2 cm x 19 cm x 12 cm; 25/32 in x 7 15/32 in x 4 23/32 in

place made

China

See more items in

Medicine and Science: Mathematics

Abacus

Science & Mathematics

Many Voices, One Nation

Exhibition

Many Voices, One Nation

Exhibition Location

National Museum of American History

Data Source

National Museum of American History

Subject

Mathematics

Metadata Usage

CC0

Link to Original Record

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a5-16bf-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa

Record ID

nmah_690527