What are the uses of the top and bottom beads on a Chinese abacus?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion centers on the uses of the top and bottom beads on a Chinese abacus, exploring their significance and functionality within the context of the abacus's design and operation.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • One participant expresses confusion about the purpose of the five beads on each "earth" string, questioning the relevance of the topmost and bottommost beads given that the number 5 is represented by moving down one bead on the "heaven" string.
  • Another participant suggests looking up information on Wikipedia as a resource for learning about the abacus.
  • A different participant expresses skepticism about the reliability of Wikipedia due to its editable nature.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants do not reach a consensus on the uses of the top and bottom beads, and there is a mix of opinions regarding the reliability of online resources for learning about the abacus.

Monoxdifly
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Does anybody here know where is the site to learn all about abacus, from its definition, history, types, and levels? I've been searching on Google but only found abacus learning courses which don't even talk about those. Thanks in advance for your help.
 
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I don't trust a site which can be edited by anyone.
 
I have found some sites. However, I am still confused about why does Chinese abacus have 5 beads on each "earth" strings if they make the number 5 by moving down 1 bead on the "heaven" string. What are the use of both the top most and the bottom most beads? Those two seem irrelevant.
 

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