Chinese Abacus (Suanpan) Simulator
A working 13-rod Chinese suanpan: move the beads, read the number in place values, set any number and practise against randomly generated targets
Practice
How a suanpan reads
A Chinese suanpan uses two upper beads (each worth 5) and five lower beads (each worth 1) on every rod. A bead only counts when it is pushed towards the beam: upper beads move down, lower beads move up. The value of a rod is 5 × (upper beads at the beam) + (lower beads at the beam), and each rod to the left is ten times the rod to its right. This board has 13 rods, so the full range is 0 to 9,999,999,999,999. Two upper beads mean a rod can temporarily show up to 15 during hand calculation; when it goes above 9, a carry to the next rod is due — the tool warns you when that happens.
A note on scope
This tool is arithmetic practice only. It contains no fortune-telling, auspicious-date or numerology content, and no claims about numbers bringing luck.
Frequently asked questions
Why are there two upper beads instead of one?
The extra upper bead is a carrying aid used in traditional bead arithmetic: it lets a rod hold a temporary value up to 15 while you complete a carry. For plain number reading, only one upper bead is normally needed.
How do I enter a number quickly?
Type the number in the box and press “Place number”. The tool sets the beads for you; then click beads yourself to see how the same value is represented.
Does this teach the full abacus method?
It teaches bead representation and reading, plus target practice. Formal suanpan calculation also uses memorised addition and subtraction formulas (the “bead formulas”), which are better learned from a teacher or a dedicated course.