Chisenbop
Encyclopedia
Chisanbop or chisenbop is an abacus
-like finger counting
method used to perform basic mathematical operations. According to The Complete Book of Chisanbop by Hang Young Pai, chisanbop was created in the 1940s in Korea
by Sung Jin Pai and revised by his son Hang Young Pai. It was brought to the U.S. around 1977 by Hang Young Pai. With this method it is possible to display all numbers from 0 to 99 with both hands.
Each finger (but not the thumb) of the right hand has a value of one. Press the index finger of the right hand onto the table to indicate "one." Press the index and long fingers for two, the three leftmost fingers for three, and all four fingers of the right hand to indicate four.
The thumb of the right hand holds the value five, like the top bead of a soroban
or abacus. To place the value 6, press the right thumb and index finger onto the table. The thumb indicates 5 plus the 1 indicated by the finger.
The left hand represents the tens digit. It works like the right hand, but each value is multiplied by ten. Each finger on the left hand represents ten, and the left thumb represents fifty. In this way, all values between 0 and 99 can be indicated on two hands.
Values between zero and 9 are shown with the entire right hand:
Values larger than 9 are shown with both hands:
Abacus
The abacus, also called a counting frame, is a calculating tool used primarily in parts of Asia for performing arithmetic processes. Today, abaci are often constructed as a bamboo frame with beads sliding on wires, but originally they were beans or stones moved in grooves in sand or on tablets of...
-like finger counting
Finger counting
Finger counting, or dactylonomy, is the art of counting along one's fingers. Though marginalized in modern societies by Arabic numerals, formerly different systems flourished in many cultures, including educated methods far more sophisticated than the one-by-one finger count taught today in...
method used to perform basic mathematical operations. According to The Complete Book of Chisanbop by Hang Young Pai, chisanbop was created in the 1940s in Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
by Sung Jin Pai and revised by his son Hang Young Pai. It was brought to the U.S. around 1977 by Hang Young Pai. With this method it is possible to display all numbers from 0 to 99 with both hands.
Basic concepts
The hands are held in a relaxed posture on or above a table. All fingers are floating off the table to begin with. The fingers are pressed into the table to indicate value.Each finger (but not the thumb) of the right hand has a value of one. Press the index finger of the right hand onto the table to indicate "one." Press the index and long fingers for two, the three leftmost fingers for three, and all four fingers of the right hand to indicate four.
The thumb of the right hand holds the value five, like the top bead of a soroban
Soroban
The is an abacus developed in Japan. It is derived from the Chinese suanpan, imported from China via Korea to Japan around 1600. Like the suanpan, the soroban is still used today, despite the proliferation of practical and affordable pocket electronic calculators....
or abacus. To place the value 6, press the right thumb and index finger onto the table. The thumb indicates 5 plus the 1 indicated by the finger.
The left hand represents the tens digit. It works like the right hand, but each value is multiplied by ten. Each finger on the left hand represents ten, and the left thumb represents fifty. In this way, all values between 0 and 99 can be indicated on two hands.
Notation
A proposed notation system for representing the numbers:
. = a finger off the table
o = a finger on the table
- = a thumb off the table
@ = a thumb on the table
Values between zero and 9 are shown with the entire right hand:
-.... = 0
-o... = 1
-oo.. = 2
-ooo. = 3
-oooo = 4
@.... = 5
@o... = 6
@oo.. = 7
@ooo. = 8
@oooo = 9
Values larger than 9 are shown with both hands:
..oo- -.... = 20
....@ @.... = 55
.ooo- @o... = 36