[Report by Chinese Abacus and Mental Arithmetic Association; text by Liu Qinying; photos by Yuan Zhibin, Zhao Xiangyi and Shi Baorong] On June 7-10, 2019, the “Cultural and Natural Heritage” intangible cultural heritage publicity and exhibition national main venue activities, sponsored by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the People’s Republic of China (hereinafter referred to as the Ministry of Culture and Tourism) and the People’s Government of Guangdong Province, organized by the Intangible Heritage Department of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the People’s Government of Guangdong Province and the Guangdong Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism, were held in Guangzhou’s Baiyun International Convention Center. The theme of this event was “China’s Practices in the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage”. The slogans were: “Publicity in Life, Innovation in Practice”, “Inherit Cultural Heritage and Build a National Future Together” and “Joining Hands in the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage”. It was the first time for the Chinese Zhusuan Skill project to take part in the national main venue activities for the publicity and exhibition of intangible cultural heritage. Leaders of the World Association of Abacus and Mental Arithmetic (WAAMA) and the Chinese Abacus and Mental Arithmetic Association, China (CAMAA) attached great importance to the event. Liu Jianhua (Chairwoman of WAAMA and CAMAA), Cheng Beiping (Secretary-General of WAAMA and Executive Vice Chairman of CAMAA), Wang Weida and Lu Ping (Vice Chairmen of CAMAA) attended major activities of the event. The Secretariat of CAMAA invited two member organizations of WAAMA - the Abacus and Mental Arithmetic Association of Jilin Province and the Abacus and Mental Arithmetic Association of Shanghai - to the event. In addition, the Abacus and Mental Arithmetic Association of Zhengzhou, the Chinese Abacus Museum, the Ancient Literature Research Institute of Tsinghua University Library and well-known Chinese abacus experts were invited to the main venue exhibition activities.
A total of 40 projects on the “List (Roster) of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity”, including 32 projects on the “List of Masterpieces of the Intangible Heritage of Humanity”, seven projects on the “List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding” and one project on the “List of Outstanding Practices” from China, participated in the main venue activities in Guangzhou. The main venue exhibition was divided into three sections: “Sounds of Nature, Ingenuity of Nature, and Harmony between Man and Nature”. The first section, “Sounds of Nature”, was a collection of 40 wonderful performing arts projects of human intangible cultural heritage, showing the relationship between intangible cultural heritage and space. The second section, “Ingenuity of Nature”, showed the relationship between intangible cultural heritage and humanity, bringing together ingenuous craftsmanship. The third section, “Harmony between Man and Nature”, focused on the relationship between intangible cultural heritage and time, with special emphasis on “participation” and “ritual”. The audiences could see with their own eyes a number of intangible cultural heritage works, thus gaining a deep insight into the Chinese working people’s understanding of nature and their use of the ancient practical wisdom of nature. The third section consists of three parts. Chinese Zhusuan Skill, the second part, showed the great wisdom of the Chinese people.
Chinese Zhusuan Skill was officially included in the “List of Masterpieces of the Intangible Heritage of Humanity” in December 2013. CAMAA is the main body for the protection of Chinese Zhusuan Skill. In accordance with the Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage promulgated by the UNESCO in 2003 and the Intangible Cultural Heritage Law of the People’s Republic of China promulgated by the Chinese government in 2011, the CAMAA has led local abacus associations, abacus museums and private abacus and mental arithmetic education and training institutions at all levels to carry out a series of academic exchanges and discussions on the inheritance, protection and promotion of abacus and mental arithmetic on the basis of implementing all protection measures in the declaration text. The CAMAA has also strengthened publicity, especially through the platform of the WAAMA, to expand exchanges with international abacus and mental arithmetic organizations.
On the afternoon of June 7, 2019, Cheng Beiping, Secretary-General of WAAMA, Executive Vice China of CAMAA, and Liu Qinying, Deputy Secretary-General of CAMAA, participated in the “Symposium on the Safeguarding of Projects on the List (Roster) of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity” organized by the Intangible Heritage Department of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. At the end of the symposium, Vice Minister Li Jinzao of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism issued the Intangible Cultural Heritage Certificate for Chinese Zhusuan Skill and three other projects included in the “List (Roster) of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity” after 2010.
Under the leadership of Chairwoman Liu Jianhua and Executive Vice Chairman Cheng Beiping, the Secretariat of CAMAA has made full preparations for this event, striving to demonstrate the scientific, cultural and educational nature of Chinese Zhusuan Skill in multiple dimensions. The main forms of exhibition included museum abacus display, DIY abacus assembly experience, abacus and mental arithmetic performance by the third generation of old, middle and young people, distribution of abacus skill brochures and on-site popular science lectures by abacus experts. The abacus exhibits are provided by the Chinese Abacus Museum. The CAMAA has provided 300 DIY abacus assemblies, 600 brochures and 300 abacus pendants. Videos of abacus and mental arithmetic mainly include Beads Affecting the World, Challenging the Impossible, First Class of School and Abacus: Neat and Quick, as well as videos of classroom teaching videos of abacus and mental arithmetic for the elderly.
Representative exhibits on the Chinese Zhusuan Skill booth included: The 24-copper-column drum-shaped-bead (two in the upper box and five in the lower box) wooden octagonal abacus, which can not only be used for calculation, but also can be used as a wall hanging for decoration at home; it also has the implication of good luck. The 21-bamboo-column drum-shaped-bead (three in the upper box and five in the lower box) wooden abacus is a special abacus for astronomical calendar calculation, also known as the Tiansan Abacus. The 23-column flat-bead (two in the upper box and five in the lower box) wooden abacus with copper wrapped corners can be used for both calculation and as a paperweight. The 8-column silver-threaded-bead (two in the upper box and five in the lower box) scale-embedded micro abacus is for use in the traditional Chinese medicine shop; it demonstrates that abacus and traditional Chinese medicine are both the elements of excellent traditional Chinese culture. In addition, a comic book entitled An Abacus Lesson and a 1946 children’s abacus textbook are also on display. The comic book depicts the story of Little Red Guards defending collective interests in an abacus lesson, while the abacus textbook was an award to an outstanding children’s league member by the district government during the war of liberation. A particularly eye-catching exhibit was the Refined Standard Book of Arithmetic redacted by mathematician Mei Juecheng in Qing Dynasty after adding, deleting and revising the contents of Standard Book of Arithmetic, a work by Cheng Dawei in Ming Dynasty. The Refined Standard Book of Arithmetic has been widely circulated and used among the public. Mei Juecheng, the grandson of Mei Wending, a famous mathematician in Qing Dynasty, was also the chief editor of Collected Basic Principles of Mathematics, sponsored by Emperor Kangxi of Qing Dynasty. The Standard Book of Arithmetic by Cheng Dawei in Ming Dynasty was the most widely circulated book, which was spread to Japan, South Korea and other Southeast Asian countries at the end of the 16th century.
The four pupils who participated in the abacus and mental arithmetic performance of the Chinese Zhusuan Skill project were all from the Yanxin Primary School of Yanji City, Jilin Province. Among them, Zhang Enming and Zhang Enying had participated in the Challenging the Impossible program of CCTV 1. They challenged the “100 4-digit calculation” and “100 3-digit calculation” abacus and mental arithmetic projects respectively, and both succeeded. The adult abacus calculation performance was presented by Ms. Wu Meiling from the Yanbian Prefecture Finance Bureau of Jilin Province. She had participated in the double-brain interference calculation in CCTV’s Challenging the Impossible program. Her success caused a great sensation in the industry.
Participating in the abacus and mental arithmetic performance of the elderly were four senior citizens from Huajing Community School in the Xuhui District of Shanghai. Their average age was 70, but they were quick-witted and energetic.
In the morning and afternoon of June 8, 2019, the Chinese Zhusuan Skill project presented the abacus and mental arithmetic performances of the elderly, children and adults in the concentrated experience area of the “Harmony between Man and Nature” section. The performances were presided over by Wang Weida, Vice Chairman of CAMAA, and Liu Qinying, Deputy Secretary-General of CAMAA. Liu Jianhua (Chairwoman of WAAMA and CAMAA), Cheng Beiping (Secretary-General of WAAMA and Executive Vice Chairman of CAMAA), and Lu Ping (Vice Chairman of CAMAA) observed the abacus and mental arithmetic performances in the morning. The leaders also personally dictated “filling numbers” for the pupils’ visual mental arithmetic performance, an act to increase difficulty, and were very satisfied with the performance results.
The abacus and mental arithmetic performances of the elderly were mainly finger exercises and abacus show. During the 5-digit and 6-digit abacus and mental arithmetic performances, pupils also performed 3-digit and 4-digit audio abacus calculation, 3-digit, 4-digit and 5-digit visual abacus calculation, visual mental arithmetic of multiplication and division, lightning mental arithmetic, etc. The abacus and mental arithmetic performances by Wu Meiling in the adult group were 2-digit and 3-digit “double-brain abacus and mental arithmetic”. In the double-brain abacus and mental arithmetic performance, two people dictated questions on both sides of her, and she instantly wrote the answers to the two questions respectively. The performances of the elderly, primary school students and Wu Meiling were all outstanding, winning cheers from time to time. The audience also actively participated in the show, giving questions to the contestants one after another, creating a wonderful interactive effect.
On the morning of June 9, 2019, all the participants in the abacus section took photos at the Chinese Zhusuan Skill booth and shouted out the slogans: “Chinese Zhusuan Skill, Long History, Inheritance and Development, Innovation and Development”. The elderly, primary school students, Wu Meiling participating in the abacus and mental arithmetic performances and Wang Weida (Vice Chairman of CAMAA), respectively talked about their feelings of learning abacus and mental arithmetic and their experience of participating in this event. Professor Feng Lisheng, Director of the Ancient Literature Research Institute of Tsinghua University Library, made a special report titled “The Generation, Development, Dissemination and Value of Chinese Zhusuan Skill”, which not only enabled our participants to have a more comprehensive understanding of the generation and development of Chinese Zhusuan Skill and its multiple values, but also further understood the overseas dissemination of Chinese Zhusuan Skill in its early stage. Moreover, the report inspired visitors to linger and consult about the education and training of abacus and mental arithmetic.
The normal activities of the Chinese Zhusuan Skill booth included the introduction of abacus exhibits, DIY abacus assembly, abacus experience, distribution of Chinese Zhusuan Skill brochures and abacus and mental arithmetic brochures for the elderly, as well as the display of published results of abacus and mental arithmetic in recent years and the Abacus and Mental Arithmetic magazine. The wonderful narration of the exhibits by Wang Dandan of the Chinese Abacus Museum attracted many visitors to the booth. The most popular was DIY abacus assembly. Many parents brought their children to the Chinese Zhusuan Skill booth, who were attracted by the DIY abacus assembly. In order to experience assembling the abacus, they even waited in long lines. There were also foreign students who took part in the DIY abacus assembly activity; they showed high interest in Chinese Zhusuan Skill, not only playing the abacus by themselves but also actively asking about the spread of Chinese abacus and mental arithmetic in their countries.
During the exhibition and performance, Professor Feng Lisheng of Tsinghua University and Dr. Liu Qinying of CAMAA conducted an offline interview with the “2019 Cultural and Natural Heritage Day - Reception Hall of Culture and Tourism China”. Professor Feng Lisheng mainly talked about the generation and historical development of Chinese Zhusuan Skill, as well as its transmission ways, practical, cultural and scientific values. Researcher Liu Qinying mainly introduced the innovative development, inheritance and promotion of Chinese Zhusuan Skill, and explained the role of abacus and mental arithmetic in tapping human intelligence potential. For ordinary children, learning abacus and mental arithmetic can help them achieve the goal of developing their intelligence potential. For people with mental retardation, learning abacus and mental arithmetic can not only help them master certain mental arithmetic ability, but also, more importantly, improve their ability to take care of themselves and realize self-care. For students in vocational colleges, learning abacus and mental arithmetic can help cultivate their comprehensive quality and ingenuity. For the elderly, learning abacus and mental arithmetic physically and mentally can help improve their intelligence and strengthen their brains, prevent Alzheimer’s syndrome (commonly known as dementia). Abacus and mental arithmetic is truly a lifelong education system in this regard. At the Chinese Zhusuan Skill booth, Liu Qinying also interviewed with Guangzhou TV Station and Xinhua News Agency.
As an intangible cultural heritage of humanity, Chinese Zhusuan Skill, through participating in a series of activities in the main venue of the 2019 “Cultural and Natural Heritage Day” intangible cultural heritage publicity and exhibition, especially on-site display, explanation and exchange, and practical experience, has deeply communicated and widely disseminated the profound cultural connotation of Chinese Zhusuan Skill, an intangible cultural heritage project, comprehensively presented the practical results of the inheritance and development of Chinese Zhusuan Skill, further enhanced the visibility, reputation and influence of the abacus project, and demonstrated the responsibility and determination of Chinese Abacus and Mental Arithmetic Association and its competent authorities to value, protect, inherit and promote the development of abacus, an excellent element of traditional Chinese culture.