The earliest abacus book in China is an ancient abacus book, which is a "legacy of arithmetic".

Notes on Mathematical Techniques is a mathematical monograph compiled by Xu Yue in the Eastern Han Dynasty, which contains 14 algorithms with China characteristics, but only one abacus has been circulated so far. There are also records about the number of stages and the maximum number in the book.

"Shu Shu Ji" has more than one volume, which is said to be "written by Xu Yue, Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty, the satrap of Hanzhong in the Northern Zhou Dynasty, and the former official's note". The book contains fourteen kinds of numerology arithmetic, mental arithmetic and other calculations. According to the textual research of Mr. Qian Baocong, a famous mathematical historian in China, this book was written by Zhen Xuan under the guise of Xu Yue. Some people have put forward different opinions, and there is no conclusion yet. The current biography is an engraving of Bao Han in the Southern Song Dynasty (A.D. 12 12), which is kept in Peking University Library.

"Notes on Mathematical Skills" introduces the ancient China 14 algorithms. Except for 14, which is a mental calculation, there is no need for calculation tools. All other 13 have calculation tools, namely, integral (i.e. compilation), Taiyi calculation, Eryi calculation, Sancai calculation, Wuxing calculation, gossip calculation and so on. The name "abacus" was first seen here.

After the Tang and Song Dynasties, the 13 calculators described in Shu Shu, except abacus, were lost one after another. However, this book has only a text introduction, no calculator design, and its historical outlook is unknown, leaving a mystery similar to Goldbach's conjecture in the history of ancient computing in China.

In order to solve this mystery, Chinese and foreign scholars have crossed the ocean with their own abilities. Japanese mathematical historians Kazuo Sanshi (1875- 1950) and Kiichi Totani, famous British historians of science Joseph Needham, and China scholars Xu Fufang, Yu Jieshi, Li Di, Zhou Quanzhong and Li all drew their own "conjectures" with a scientific and meticulous attitude in an attempt to decipher 65438+.