Zhejiang Province Abacus Association Guohua Abacus Museum

Zhejiang Province Abacus Association Guohua Abacus Museum

The Zhejiang Province Abacus Association Guohua Abacus Museum serves as a science education base and a patriotic education base.

The Zhejiang Province Abacus Association Guohua Abacus Museum is located on Shenfu Road, south of the Municipal Square in Linhai City. It is a privately funded museum established solely by Lei Guohua, a standing member of the Taizhou Municipal Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. Founded in November 1993, the museum has continuously expanded and enriched its collection. Currently, it houses six exhibition halls covering a total area of 250 square meters, and features over 1,300 types of abacus tools, along with more than 3,000 pieces of historical materials, books, and images related to the abacus. It is the only specialized museum among China’s hundreds of museums that focuses entirely on abacus exhibits. In 1996, it was designated as one of the first municipal-level patriotic education bases by the Taizhou Municipal Committee and the Taizhou Municipal Government.

The museum’s collection is renowned for its “Four Superlatives,” which attract considerable attention: the world’s largest giant abacus, measuring 6.52 meters in length, 1.68 meters in height, and weighing 1,008 kilograms; the abacus with the most rods—6.12 meters long, featuring 225 rods and 1,575 beads, allowing 15 people to use it simultaneously; the heaviest metal abacus, entirely cast in bronze with Ming-style drum-shaped beads, 7 beads per rod, 9 rods in total, and weighing 589 kilograms; and the smallest abacus, meticulously crafted from silver, measuring just 0.5 × 10 cm, with rods as fine as hair strands, each bead operated effortlessly with the tip of a needle—hailed as the “Four Wonders” of the world. The exhibits also include models of ancient primitive calculating tools and abacuses from various historical periods; replicas such as knotted grass tally sticks, Western Zhou pottery balls, Spring and Autumn period counting rods, and beads unearthed in Julu County, Hebei, dating back to the Northern Song Dynasty; international calculating tools such as Egyptian sand abacuses, European thread abacuses, Roman groove abacuses, and the 17th-century slide rule; abacuses made from various metals including gold, silver, copper, iron, and aluminum; uniquely shaped abacuses such as pagoda-shaped, barrel-shaped, and wall-mounted versions; rare abacuses crafted from materials like pure jade, jadeite, emerald, ivory, pearls, cloisonné, ceramics, agarwood, jade bracelets, rings, backscratchers, Buddhist altars, conch shells, ruyi scepters, bagua symbols, and stone engravings. There is also a rare military marching abacus used by troops. The museum offers an astonishing array of items, truly a dazzling collection.