The ‘first computer’ is now a collector’s item
Print Edition
In a big hall, a group of scientists is poring over an abacus. Every now and then, they whisper back and forth to confirm data. A guard at the hall’s entrance asks a colleague what these men are doing. “Working for revolution” is the reply.
That was a scene in the film “Roaring Across the Horizon,” which traced the development of China’s first atomic bomb. The movie account may be a bit glorified, but the importance of the abacus, or suanpan, as an instrument of science was not.
The abacus is regarded as China’s fifth greatest invention, after the compass, gunpowder, movable type and paper. With quick and nimble fingers, a user can do multiplication, division, addition, subtraction and even square roots at incredible speeds.
Not that many decades ago, every student carried an abacus in their schoolbags, and every shop and market stall had one to calculate price. But the abacus was largely replaced by electronic calculators and then by computerized math programs. It has faded from daily use.
Not for Ge Xinhua, who collects abacuses and sometimes repairs them.
“I still like the abacus, if not so much for its function anymore as its cultural history and craftsmanship,” Ge tells Shanghai Daily.
Ge, 65, sits amid a pile of abacuses in his Shanghai home in Baoshan District. He picks out one among hundreds.
“This suanpan can be traced back to the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644),” he says. “Each part of it is put together using exposed mortise and tenon joints, which is typical of that era.”
There are no nails. Each of the wooden pieces fits perfectly. Even after hundreds of years, this abacus retains its clean and elegant lines, and its mahogany frame has a natural shine.
Suanpan literally means “calculator plate.” The earliest historical record of the abacus appeared on the famous scroll painting “Along the River During Qingming Festival” by Zhang Zeduan (1085-1145). This 12th-century urban landscape shows an abacus on a desk in an herbal medicine shop. It is clearly visible through an open window.
Legend has it that the “first computer” was invented by the mythical Huangdi (Yellow Emperor), father of the Chinese civilization. Some historians say the frame of the abacus originated in the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BC).
The Ming Dynasty abacus in Ge’s collection is believed to be the oldest surviving from that period.
“I can only do basic skills in repairing suanpan, like replacing the beads,” he says. “In the old days, you could easily find skilled suanpan repairman in small stalls in the old lanes of downtown Shanghai. Nowadays, they are rare.”
Ge is happy to try to repair the few abacuses brought to him. He doesn’t charge anything.
To repair even the most common hardwood suanpan, a craftsman must have skills in cleaning the frame, polishing and lacquer application.
It’s a dying craft. Locals report that there was once an old man in Yuyuan Garden who could fix any kind of suanpan, but he seems to have disappeared.
“The suanpan used to embody wealth and prosperity,” Ge says. “That’s why many people, especially merchants, carried them and kept them at home and work.”
Materials change
The suanpan changed during different periods of Chinese history, Ge says. During the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), an abacus commonly had nine or 11 rods
“In that time, when people wanted to criticize someone for being too canny, they would say, ‘Don’t hang out with that man; his abacus has 10 rods’,” he says.
The materials used to make abacuses have also changed. There are suanpan made from jade, ivory, gold and red sandalwood, with ox horn used for the beads.
“I have tried to collect as many as I can within my limited finances,” he says.
Ge lost his father the year he was born and was raised by his mother.
“She was merely 30 at the time, with three children,” he recalls. “She enrolled in what is today the Shanghai Lixin University of Commerce and became an accountant to support the family. I guess seeing her use the suanpan all the time was what probably got me interested.”
Later, Ge became close friend with an old collector, Chen Baoding, who left him the illustrated works of his abacus collection when he died. Based on the illustrations, Ge started his odyssey to collect as many suanpan as he could find. At one point, he had 7,000 at home.
He has sold much of that collection to museums and accounting institutions that are trying to preserve the history of the abacus.
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