The Rural Revitalization Public Welfare Campaign for Chinese Abacus Intangible Cultural Heritage was launched in Yinchuan, Ningxia on July 28. This Campaign is sponsored by the Chinese Abacus and Mental Arithmetic Association (hereinafter: “CAMAA”), organized by Ningxia Abacus Association and co-organized by China Accounting News and Beijing Caike Everest Technology Co., Ltd.

(Site of the launching ceremony) 

“Boost rural revitalization through the inheritance of abacus intangible cultural heritage” “Enlighten the mind and promote the development with abacus and mental arithmetic education, and inherit intangible cultural heritage from generation to generation”. The launch of this public welfare campaign marks that CAMAA will further grasp the educational value and cultural characteristics of abacus, focus on the vast land of rural revitalization, and effectively contribute to the revitalization and development of rural areas, with the goal of improving people’s overall quality, driving their all-round development, and continuously increasing the vitality and influence of Chinese Abacus Skill.

In this public welfare campaign, CAMAA focuses on western China and ethnic minority areas, where 14 schools and nursing homes from five provinces and cities are selected as the first-batch pilot institutions.

On the launch ceremony, Chairwoman Liu Jianhua of CAMAA said, in addition to donating supplies such as teaching materials and abacuses to pilot institutions, CAMAA will organize public welfare activities in the long term, continue to follow up the pilot, and provide pilot institutions with materials and policy support, including teaching materials and tools, teacher training, research project and other aspects, so as to inject deep cultural deposits and scientific education connotation for rural revitalization and development.

In rural areas, education not only carries the function of spreading knowledge and building civilized local customs, but also provides talent support for rural construction, playing an irreplaceable fundamental role in rural revitalization.

Liu Jianhua said, in order to further integrate Chinese abacus cause with rural revitalization and development in the new era, we should (i) give full play to the role of abacus and mental arithmetic in enlightenment and increasing wisdom, improve the design rationality and system integrity of abacus courses, and consolidate the role and status of abacus education in preschool education, discipline education, vocational education and education system for the elderly; (ii) do a good job in the protection, inheritance and development of the abacus cause while firmly grasping the cultural attributes of Chinese Abacus Culture and upholding the historical positioning of intangible cultural heritage of humanity; and (iii) carry out relevant work with rural revitalization as the starting point and objective, adhere to the public welfare development orientation of abacus and make unique contributions to rural revitalization and development with the power of the abacus community.

(Grant badges and distribute donations to pilot organizations of public welfare activities)

Vice Chairman Ma Minxia of CAMAA told reporters, this public welfare campaign not only promotes the popularization and development of abacus and mental arithmetic education in less-developed areas and contributes to rural revitalization in the new era with Chinese abacus; but also lifts the abacus and mental arithmetic education of provinces and cities participating in this pilot to a higher level.

In 2013, UNESCO officially included Chinese Abacus Skill in the “List of Masterpieces of the Intangible Heritage of Humanity”. Over the years, CAMAA has, with the mission of inheriting the fine traditional Chinese culture, firmly seize the great opportunity for the development of abacus as well as abacus and mental arithmetic in the new era, implement a number of research projects, strengthen the management and supervision of abacus as well as abacus and mental arithmetic appraisal competitions, continue to hold training courses for inheritors on a large scale, promote public opinion publicity in an innovative way, and develop the abacus as well as abacus and mental arithmetic cause in a deeper and broader range, so as to inject new vigor to the ancient abacus culture.

(Abacus Performance by Yingzhuo Art School in Yinchuan, Ningxia)

For example, in 2019, the Ningxia Abacus Association visited the abacus and mental arithmetic class for the elderly in Huajing Town Community of Shanghai to draw on experience, and worked on setting up abacus classes for the elderly for the public welfare purpose. In 2021, the Association paid a field visit to local elderly care centers, during which the Ningxia Xiaociyuan Elderly Care Center was confirmed as basically eligible. Later, it collected and sorted out the materials of abacus classes for the elderly, prepared teaching plans and conducted a trial lecture. Moreover, the Association actively coordinated with the education department of Pengyang County concerning the matters on setting up public welfare classes of abacus and mental arithmetic in Pengyang County No. 2 Primary School.

Liu Shoubao, Deputy Director-general of the Finance Department of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, said on the ceremony, they will try their best to implement the requirements proposed by CAMAA, expand exchanges with other provinces and autonomous regions, and further develop based on existing results, so as to play a greater role in actively promoting the development of abacus as well as abacus and mental arithmetic.

As a representative that participates in the first-batch pilot of the Rural Revitalization Public Welfare Campaign for Chinese Abacus Intangible Cultural Heritage, Du Juan (President of No. 5 Primary School in Dushanzi District, Karamay, Xinjiang) said, they will seize the scientific feature of abacus and mental arithmetic education for tapping children’s intellectual potential, hold on to the major opportunity brought by the Rural Revitalization Public Welfare Campaign for the development of abacus and mental arithmetic, and undertake the important task of “contributing to the development of Xinjiang with abacus culture”.

Chen Feiyan, Professor of Zhejiang University, introduced to reporters that, based on the results of staged experiments carried out by her and her team, learning abacus and mental arithmetic is positively correlated with children’s capabilities of number cognition and learning transfer, and can help children improve their ability to concentrate, remember, imagine and reason logically. Moreover, learning abacus and mental arithmetic can also improve brain intelligence and delay aging for the elderly. As she suggested, we should further follow the scientific law of human brain development in the course of carrying out abacus and mental arithmetic education, and lead the reform of abacus and mental arithmetic teaching with brain science. 

(Group photo of participating leaders and guests)