[Comprehensive report by Gao Chang from Chinese Abacus and Mental Arithmetic Association] On February 2, 2020, the Fifth Season of Challenging the Impossible--Pageantry of Chinese New Year of the Rat was broadcast on CCTV-1. One of the challenges is abacus and mental arithmetic, namely, “the red packet rain rapid calculation challenge”. The participants came from Jilin Province and Hebei Province. They are: Zhang Xuhanyu (8 years old) from Tangshan City, Hebei Province, Zhang Shuoqi (8 years old) from Gongzhuling City, Jilin Province, Zhang Peiyu (9 years old) and Mu Yutong (11 years old) from Yanji City, Jilin Province, and Yang Yuze (11 years old) from Songyuan City, Jilin Province. They presented a visual feast for the audience during Chinese New Year of the Rat. After being aired, this program has caused an upsurge in views across the society, and a warm response among teachers, students, and parents who watched the program through the Internet, TV, mobile phones and other media independently.

In the “red packet rain rapid calculation challenge”, the participants should put the number with decimal point in the red packet and make calculation amid multiple interferences. The challenge was divided into two rounds: In Round 1, the guest inputs 60 amounts that vary at random between 0.01 yuan and 99.99 yuan in the red packet. The red packet rain showing different amounts will quickly fall down on the screen subject to multiple interferences, and the challenger needs to calculate the total amount of these sixty red packets quickly and accurately. The three challengers who calculate the right answer within the shortest time will enter the second round; in Round 2, the guest inputs 100 amounts that vary at random between 0.01 yuan and 999.99 yuan in the red packet. The red packet rain not showing the amounts will quickly fall down on the screen subject to multiple interferences, and display the amounts after random blasting at random times. The challenger needs to accurately calculate the total amount of all red packets blasted, and the one who calculates the right answer within the shortest time will be the winner. After a fierce competition, Zhang Peiyu (9 years old) from Yanji City, Jilin Province became the winner in 100 lightning calculations of the “Red Packet Rain Interference” challenge, and successfully stepped onto the Honor Hall of Challenging the Impossible!

Zhang Bin, a famous CCTV host, commented: “When watching fast-moving objects, it takes about 0.07 to 0.3 seconds for people’s eyes to form images. The falling speed of red packets is almost the limit of the currently recognized ability for people to quickly capture numbers with our naked eyes. For ordinary people, there’s not enough time to recognize the numbers on the red packets, even more impossible to calculate. The calculation speed of these five children is synchronized with the falling speed of red packets. In fact, they internalized the abacus skills, and used own ideas to make calculations. That’s to say, they have built a supercomputing system inside of them”! The judges also popularized the knowledge of abacus to the audience: Traced back to over 1,800 years ago, the Chinese abacus skill is the most popular algorithm among dozens of algorithms in ancient China, with the largest popularity and influence.

It’s reported that, the studies of the team led by Professor Zhou Xinlin of State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning at Beijing Normal University, the team led by Academician Tang Xiaowei and Professor Chen Feiyan of Zhejiang University and the team led by Associate Professor Jiang Zhifeng of National Institute of Education Sciences found that: After receiving abacus and mental arithmetic trainings for a certain period, people will have stronger capabilities of computing, thinking, presentation, memory, observation, concentration, reaction, anti-interference and quantity and number sense.

The demonstration of abacus and mental arithmetic on CCTV’s program symbolizes that the splendid traditional culture of the Chinese nation, namely Chinese abacus as well as the abacus and mental arithmetic developed after innovation based on abacus, have been highly recognized by all sectors of society. Its concept of education and enlightenment has been deeply rooted in the hearts of people. Wish the recovery and greater achievements in the promotion of abacus as well as abacus and mental arithmetic!