The suanpan had its roots possibly from a Chinese counting rod; the numeral system used was decimal. The concept of zero was believed to be introduced during the period of 618-907 which was the Tang Dynasty. 

Sponsored Links

It was fully proven when the Chinese merchants travel between the Middle East and also in the Indian Ocean, they have interacted and trade with the Indians and the Islamic merchants.

The merchants from India and the Islam region used the decimal numeral system and had the concept of zero. It was through the interaction of the Chinese between these two cultures that the concept of zero was integrated and applied in using and computing numbers using the suanpan.