How do you build a Chinese Abacus?
Well that depends, there are several different kinds, They have the old style, still used by the die-hards (older Chinese communities) which refer to the 2/5, in Japan its the same only they have the 1/5 style, for that matter, both Nations use the 1/5. In japan its called a Soroban, in China its called a Suan-Pan. You have to make the choice, Its really simple; you have a frame,(the size depends on you and the size of your beads) as an example lets say 16″ wide x 12″ tall x 2″ deep. you will have a beam seperating an upper & lower decks, put the beam 1/3 down from top, (4″), now measure to equally space 13 rods both in the upper & lower decks, on these rods you will place your beads, If you choose to go with the older style, 2 beads per rod in the upper deck & 5 beads per rods in the lower deck. To me this is more appealing than the modern style of 1/5. NOTE: you can buy shadow frames and take out the glass.
