再论筹算向珠算的演变——从唐长安西市遗址出土的釉陶算珠说起

Another Analyis of the Evolution from Bamboo Count to Abacus——From the perspective of beads of glazed pottery on an abacus excavated from the relic of Western Marketplace in Chang'an,capital of Tang Dynasty

中国古代一直是用算筹进行计算的。自明代中期前后,随着算筹被算盘所取代,珠算遂代替筹算成了普遍的计算方式。珠算取代筹算是社会经济发展的需要,也是一个长期的演变过程。近期唐长安西市遗址出土的釉陶算珠,疑是传为北朝数学家甄鸾注《数术记遗》中所谓"珠算板"上的算珠。这种算珠的出现,当是筹算向珠算演变过程中关键的一步。

In ancient China,people used bamboo count for calculation.Since the period of the middle of Ming Dynasty,bamboo count had been replaced by abacuses.Threrefore,abacus took the palce of bamboo count as a popular way of calculation,which showed the need of social and economic development and which also lasted for a long time.Beads of glazed pottery on an abacus excavated from the relic of Western Marketplace in Chang＇an,capital of Tang Dynasty,were suspected to be the beads of abacus board mentioned in Anecdote of Mathematics by Zhen Luan,a mathematician in Northern Dynasty.The emergence of this kind of beads marked an important step in the evolution from bamboo count to abacus.