<p>Probably not. You'll find the following sentence on this wiki page <a href="https://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-hant/%E7%AE%97%E7%AD%B9" rel="nofollow noreferrer">算籌</a></p>
<p>1973年9月，湖北省江陵縣鳳凰山出土的十號漢代古木木牘，其中有一片記有「當利二月定筭<img src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/19/Counting_rod_v6.png/15px-Counting_rod_v6.png">」，這是文獻中最早出現以<strong>籌碼代替文字</strong>記數例子之一</p>
<p>I take it that 算籌 is not regarded as 文字。</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-09-04T12:31:20.170Z
2021-09-04T12:31:20.170Z
joehua
<p>So it is a way of taking down numbers.</p>
<p>For example Roman Numbers uses X and I and V but we do not take them as words.</p>
<p>The rods are the same, they are just a way of counting , the ancient chinese uses ropes and knots the take numbers , they have the same meaning.</p>
<p>I personally do not take the rods as characters.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-09-05T02:36:57.513Z
2021-09-05T02:36:57.513Z
Charles chen
<p>Looking at <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Yang_Hui%27s_Triangle&amp;redirect=no" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Yang Hui's triangle</a> we can see notations like:</p>
<blockquote>
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/DBOZO.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/DBOZO.png" alt="enter image description here" /></a></p>
</blockquote>
<p>and</p>
<blockquote>
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/56vhm.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/56vhm.png" alt="enter image description here" /></a></p>
</blockquote>
<p>These are known as: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counting_rods" rel="nofollow noreferrer">counting rods</a>.</p>
<p>Were/are these ever treated at actual characters?</p>
<p>The two pictures above should stand for six and seven, respectively. It is not hard to imagine that they were once some form of 字.</p>
<p>Ideas?</p>

<characters>
Were/are counting rods ever treated as characters?
# Were/are counting rods ever treated as characters?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2021-09-04)

Looking at [Yang Hui's triangle](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Yang_Hui%27s_Triangle&redirect=no) we can see notations like:

> [![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/DBOZO.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/DBOZO.png)

and

> [![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/56vhm.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/56vhm.png)

These are known as: [counting rods](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counting_rods).

Were/are these ever treated at actual characters?

The two pictures above should stand for six and seven, respectively. It is not hard to imagine that they were once some form of 字.

Ideas?

**Tags:** characters


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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2021-09-04. Score: 1

Probably not. You'll find the following sentence on this wiki page [算籌](https://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-hant/%E7%AE%97%E7%AD%B9)

1973年9月，湖北省江陵縣鳳凰山出土的十號漢代古木木牘，其中有一片記有「當利二月定筭![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/19/Counting_rod_v6.png/15px-Counting_rod_v6.png)」，這是文獻中最早出現以**籌碼代替文字**記數例子之一

I take it that 算籌 is not regarded as 文字。


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### Answer by username_2 on 2021-09-05. Score: 1

So it is a way of taking down numbers.

For example Roman Numbers uses X and I and V but we do not take them as words.

The rods are the same, they are just a way of counting , the ancient chinese uses ropes and knots the take numbers , they have the same meaning.

I personally do not take the rods as characters.


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