Uploader's note 1: Book BackgroundThis collection included a series of textbooks for programming 1990s Chinese educational home computers by software developer Yu Chun (于春) and Zhang Xinlian (张新莲), the first 10 books were published by the Electronics Industry Press as the Educational Computer Operating Guide Series (电脑学习机上机指导丛书) in 1995. The remaining 3 books were earlier works written by the same primary author Yu Chun (于春) and the same press.In particular, book [1] is both a manual and a brief review of three home computer models on the market, which can serve as a good summary of these machines' capabilities for modern readers. Book [6] contained a simple 6502 disassembler written in 4-page BASIC for hand entry (page 141), and a ROM monitor in 6502 machine code for hand entry (page 144), showing the extreme efforts by enthusiasts to program these computers without real development tools. Books [12] and [13] covered advanced Famicom/NES programming techniques based on independent reverse engineering by Yu Chun, originally by disassembling machine code by hand [14]. Annotated 6502 assembly listings from actual Nintendo games like F1 Race were included. Book [10] is a detailed description of Famiclone hardware architecture, including signals and schematics of the undocumented UA6527/UA6528 processors, input handling (with light gun code from Duck Hunt), and bank switching implementation in N-in-1 game cartridges. These books represent one of the earliest efforts on Famiclone/NES reverse engineering, and one of the few reference materials on Famiclone-style educational home computers in 1990s China. All of which are still relevant to the interest of today's NESdev enthusiasts.Like today's NES homebrewers, Yu Chun was partially motivated by the hobbyist wish to write Homebrew games without documentation from Nintendo or Taiwanese clone IC makers. At the same time, by creating a better understanding of these unauthorized Famiclones that powered 1990s Chinese home computers, he was also motivated by the patriotic intention to promote computer literacy in China. This makes him perhaps one of the most interesting figures in the history of NES homebrewing, revealing a surprise historical connection between NES ROM hacking, Famiclone consoles, education and patriotism.For a personal history and interview, see [14].Educational Computer Operating Guide Series (电脑学习机上机指导丛书)[1] 于春 and 张新莲, 操作入门 (Introduction to Operation), 1st ed., vol. 1, 10 vols. in 电脑学习机上机指导系列丛书, vol. 1. 电子工业出版社, 1996. ISBN: 7-5053-3068-3[2] 于春 and 张新莲, 文字处理 (Word Processing), 1st ed., vol. 2, 10 vols. in 电脑学习机上机指导系列丛书, vol. 2. 电子工业出版社, 1996. ISBN: 7-5053-3069-1[3] 于春 and 张新莲, 游戏 BASIC 语言 (Game BASIC Language), 1st ed., vol. 3, 10 vols. in 电脑学习机上机指导系列丛书, vol. 3. 电子工业出版社, 1996. ISBN: 7-5053-3070-5[4] 于春 and 于勇, 中文 BASIC 语言 (Chinese BASIC Language), 1st ed., vol. 4, 10 vols. in 电脑学习机上机指导系列丛书, vol. 4. 电子工业出版社, 1996. ISBN: 7-5053-3071-3[5] 于春 and 李观勇, LOGO 语言 (LOGO Language), 1st ed., vol. 5, 10 vols. in 电脑学习机上机指导系列丛书, vol. 5. 电子工业出版社, 1996. ISBN: 7-5053-3072-1[6] 于春, 张新莲, and 李悦国, 汇编语言 (Assembly Language), 1st ed., vol. 6, 10 vols. in 电脑学习机上机指导系列丛书, vol. 6. 电子工业出版社, 1997. ISBN: 7-5053-3530-8[7] 于春 and 张新莲, 电脑作曲 (Computer Music), 1st ed., vol. 7, 10 vols. in 电脑学习机上机指导系列丛书, vol. 7. 电子工业出版社, 1997. ISBN: 7-5053-3531-6[8] 于春, 解学军, and 张录州, 电脑绘图 (Computer Graphics), 1st ed., vol. 8, 10 vols. in 电脑学习机上机指导系列丛书, vol. 8. 电子工业出版社, 1997. ISBN: 7-5053-3533-2[9] 于春 and 刘承真, BASIC 语言程序集 (Collection of BASIC Language Programs), 1st ed., vol. 9, 10 vols. in 电脑学习机上机指导系列丛书, vol. 9. 电子工业出版社, 1997. ISBN: 7-5053-3534-0[10] 于春 and 刘克勇, 硬件与维修 (Hardware and Repair), 1st ed., vol. 10, 10 vols. in 电脑学习机上机指导系列丛书, vol. 10. 电子工业出版社, 1997. ISBN: 7-5053-3535-9Earlier Books:[11] 于春 and 张新莲, 电脑游戏机 F BASIC 语言与编程技巧 (F BASIC Computer Game Console Programming Language and Programming Tricks). 电子工业出版社, 1993. ISBN: 7-5053-1940-X[12] 于春 and 张新莲, 电脑游戏机硬件与编程特技 (Computer Game Console Hardware and Special Programming Techniques). 电子工业出版社, 1994. ISBN: 7-5053-2393-8[13] 于春 and 张新莲, 任天堂游戏编程探密 (Exploring Secrets of Nintendo Game Programming). 电子工业出版社, 1995. ISBN: 7-5053-3228-7---Uploader's note 2: Educational Home Computers in 1990s ChinaEducational Computers ("学习机", lit. Learning Machines or Trainers) were first introduced to China in the mid-1980s. The China Educational Computer ("中华学习机", CEC) of 1986 was the most representative machine. Being an Apple II clone, it was capable of running a wide range of Apple II applications, such as Apple DOS, UCSD Pascal, and Z80 extension cards. Domestic applications were also developed, including Chinese character sets and input methods (IME). From this point of view, home computers in China were only 6 years behind the 1980s home computer boom. These Chinese home computers gained a foothold in the education system and some homes, and trained a generation of programmers.However, they were of limited influence, and true home computers like the CEC were soon overshadowed by Famiclone home computers.In the 1990s, video game consoles surged in popularity. It was the first time that electronic game consoles became affordable (albeit only marginally) by Chinese families en masse. In this sense, this era was comparable to the Atari 2600 in the 1970s USA. The Nintendo Family Computer / Entertainment System (FC/NES) clones, or Famiclones, were the most popular machines. Soon, Famiclone makers added a keyboard, Chinese character sets, input methods, and educational cartridges, allowing vendors to remarket these game consoles as educational home computers. By 1995, over 30 vendors and 100 models existed, such as Subor ("小霸王"), Pyramid ("金字塔"), Yu Xing ("裕兴"). The number of installations exceeded 8 million units [1].Unfortunately, the Famicom and Famiclones were ultimately a gaming-first platform. Clone makers relied on Nintendo's large game library, with little incentive to develop original programming tools - in fact, the most common Game BASIC interpreter were an unauthorized copy of Nintendo Family Basic. As a result, these so-called "home computers" had serious deficiencies. Mid-and-high machines could be used for computer education, if the student is stubborn enough to overcome their limitations: those were at least equipped with tape/floppy storage, improved BASIC interpreters, a word processor, and sometreading and writing imes even a DOS-like environment or a 6502 assembler. However, the same can't be said for low-end models that dominated the market. They lacked reference materials such as the machine's memory map. ROM monitors were non-existent, requiring reading and writing 6502 machine code via PEEK/POKE in BASIC - like the 1970s Homebrew Computer Club. To add insult to injury, many didn't have storage devices, making serious programming largely pointless when one's work disappears after powering the computer off.Subor ("小霸王", lit. Little Overlord) was the largest maker of low-end models such as SB-286, SB-386, or SB-486, which were known as Subor Educational Computers ("小霸王学习机", lit. Little Overlord Learning Machines). Most machines were used primarily as a game console to play unauthorized N-in-1 Nintendo game cartridges. Today, they're remembered as the Nintendo of China for this reason. Sometimes, they were used as a typing trainer (to be fair, the "Wubi" method was the primarily tool for fast Chinese typing at that time, which required memorizing a specialized encoding system of Chinese characters, with a steep learning curve, so typing trainers did have a practical value), and only occasionally they are used by students to run educational cartridges.Due to the machine's limitations, few students used these machines as programmable home computers. Many stopped at "Hello, world" in BASIC at best. In Subor's case, although higher-end models with better capabilities such as SB-96 and SB-97 were attempted, they had limited market share. As a result, machine code programmers were extremely rare - but miraculously, the number was non-zero, which was the target audience of this textbook series. In conclusion, this was the curious home computing scene in 1990s China. Users were programming on 1990s computers powered by 1980s game consoles using 1970s Homebrew Computer Club techniques, as if the country was in a spacetime bubble in which the ordinary home computing trajectory no longer existed. In hindsight, with better hardware and software add-ons, these Famiclones may have the potential to become true home computers. Nevertheless, by the year 2000, affordable (albeit only marginally) 32-bit x86 PCs made 8-bit home computers obsolete overnight, resetting the 30-year technological gap to 0.For more information, see [15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27].---Uploader's note 3: F-BASIC and LawsuitA clarification of terminology: Subor home computers were shipped with an unauthorized version of Nintendo Family Basic (F-BASIC) in its cartridge. As floating-point operations were not supported by Family BASIC, an independent and alternative implementation of BASIC was also included on the same cartridge, known as Float BASIC (F-BASIC), while the original Family BASIC renamed to G-BASIC (Game BASIC). Therefore, one must deduce the meaning of "F-BASIC" from context.Later, it turned out that both BASIC interpreters were unauthorized copies. While G-BASIC's copyright owner Nintendo never filed any lawsuit (as Nintendo didn't operate in China), the F-BASIC developer did. F-BASIC was originally a "Fei Suo" ("飞梭") product, which Subor copied without permissions. A hidden "Fei Suo" title screen loader exposed the act, leading to a lawsuit. [28] This was one of the first software copyright lawsuits in China, making it a landmark legal case. Copyright law publications in the 1990s listed this case alongside with those filed by Disney and Microsoft.Ironically, the court ultimately ruled largely against Fei Suo. The court found Fei Suo also copied it from somewhere else. It was determined that the F-BASIC's copyright holder was an unnamed company. As the original copyright holder was not involved in the lawsuit, the legality of Fei Suo's own copy was not addressed, only that Fei Suo had no legal right to stop Subor's distribution. The company remained unnamed in court documents, only as "a certain company" [30][31]. One source used the phrase "a certain Taiwanese company" [32], while The Cutting Room Floor claimed that Fujitsu was the ultimate source. [29] The title screen loader itself was the only part ruled in Fei Suo's favor: Subor was only asked to stop distributing the infringing code, but otherwise without financial compensation as the loader is normally not activated.Nevertheless, it's important to note that not all BASIC versions found on educational home computers were of questionable origin. According to [4], a more advanced "Chinese BASIC" was also developed later, and shipped by some high-end machine vendors. It was a legitimate BASIC ported from the CEC.---Interview:[14] 65 岁的程序员在山间别墅养老，解密电脑学习机的故事 (65-year-old Programmer Retirement Life in a Mountain Villa, Decoding the Story of Educational Computers) https://web.archive.org/web/20220426144835/https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/37715470A Brief History of Educational Computer:[15] 森哥说 IT, “电脑学习机简史--第二章 全民学习计算机（5）(A Brief History of Educational Computer - Chapter 2: Nationwide Computer Learning, Part 5),” 哔哩哔哩专栏. [Online]. Available: https://www.bilibili.com/read/cv10004470[16] 森哥说 IT, “电脑学习机简史--第三章 电脑学习机的兴起（6）(A Brief History of Educational Computer - Chapter 3: Rise of Educational Computers, Part 6),” 哔哩哔哩专栏. [Online]. Available: https://www.bilibili.com/read/cv10007072[17] 森哥说 IT, “电脑学习机简史--第三章 电脑学习机的兴起（7）(A Brief History of Educational Computer - Chapter 3: Rise of Educational Computers, Part 7),” 哔哩哔哩专栏. [Online]. Available: https://www.bilibili.com/read/cv10007832[18] 森哥说 IT, “电脑学习机简史--第三章 电脑学习机的兴起（8）(A Brief History of Educational Computer - Chapter 3: Rise of Educational Computers, Part 8),” 哔哩哔哩专栏. [Online]. Available: https://www.bilibili.com/read/cv10008180[19] 森哥说 IT, “电脑学习机简史--第四章 国产电脑学习机崛起 （9）(A Brief History of Educational Computer - Chapter 4: Rise of Domestic Educational Computers, Part 9),” 哔哩哔哩专栏. [Online]. Available: https://www.bilibili.com/read/cv10021278[20] 森哥说 IT, “电脑学习机简史--第四章 国产电脑学习机崛起 （10）(A Brief History of Educational Computer - Chapter 4: Rise of Domestic Educational Computers, Part 10),” 哔哩哔哩专栏. [Online]. Available: https://www.bilibili.com/read/cv10024370[21] 森哥说 IT, “电脑学习机简史--第四章 国产电脑学习机崛起 （11）(A Brief History of Educational Computer - Chapter 4: Rise of Domestic Educational Computers, Part 11),” 哔哩哔哩专栏. [Online]. Available: https://www.bilibili.com/read/cv10024660[22] 森哥说 IT, “电脑学习机简史--第四章 国产电脑学习机崛起 （12）(A Brief History of Educational Computer - Chapter 4: Rise of Domestic Educational Computers, Part 12),” 哔哩哔哩专栏. [Online]. Available: https://www.bilibili.com/read/cv10024766[23] 森哥说 IT, “电脑学习机简史--第四章 国产电脑学习机崛起 （13）(A Brief History of Educational Computer - Chapter 4: Rise of Domestic Educational Computers, Part 13),” 哔哩哔哩专栏. [Online]. Available: https://www.bilibili.com/read/cv10071420[24] 森哥说 IT, “电脑学习机简史--第四章 国产电脑学习机崛起 （14）(A Brief History of Educational Computer - Chapter 4: Rise of Domestic Educational Computers, Part 14),” 哔哩哔哩专栏. [Online]. Available: https://www.bilibili.com/read/cv10071835[25] 森哥说 IT, “电脑学习机简史--第四章 国产电脑学习机崛起 （15）(A Brief History of Educational Computer - Chapter 4: Rise of Domestic Educational Computers, Part 15),” 哔哩哔哩专栏. [Online]. Available: https://www.bilibili.com/read/cv10072016[26] 森哥说 IT, “电脑学习机简史--第四章 国产电脑学习机崛起 （16）(A Brief History of Educational Computer - Chapter 4: Rise of Domestic Educational Computers, Part 16),” 哔哩哔哩专栏. [Online]. Available: https://www.bilibili.com/read/cv10083880[27] 森哥说 IT, “电脑学习机简史--第六章‘小霸王’和‘裕兴’发展历程（17）(A Brief History of Educational Computer - Chapter 6: History of 'Subor' and 'Yu Xing', Part 17),” 哔哩哔哩专栏. [Online]. Available: https://www.bilibili.com/read/cv10083937Lawsuit:[28] “Subor Chinese and English Computer Learning Card (v3.0),” BootlegGames Wiki. [Online]. Available: https://bootleggames.fandom.com/wiki/Subor_Chinese_and_English_Computer_Learning_Card_(v3.0)[29] “Subor V3.0,” The Cutting Room Floor. [Online]. Available: https://web.archive.org/web/20240203222921/https://tcrf.net/Subor_V3.0[30] 北京市第一中级人民法院知识产权审判庭, “符合文字作品要件的计算机软件受著作权保护——广东珠海市飞梭电脑中心技术开发部诉广东中山市小霸王电子工业公司计算机软件侵权案 (Computer Software Constituting a Written Work Protected by the Copyright Law - Feisuo Computer Center Technology Development Department of Zhihai City Guangdong Province vs. The Little Overlord Electronic Industry Company of Zhongshan City Guangdong Province),” in 知识产权名案评析, 1st ed., 宿迟, Ed., 最高人民法院人民法院出版社, 1996, pp. 57–63. ISBN: 7-80056-436-3. [Online]. Available: https://annas-archive.li/md5/254be426629075441f866a92168687a8[31] 寿步, “软件热点案例透析,” in 知识产权文丛 第2卷, 1st ed., vol. 2, 政思成, Ed., 中国政法大学出版社, 1999, pp. 346–369. [Text]. ISBN: 7-5620-1891-X. Available: https://annas-archive.li/md5/65e76afcfc6e96c5b8bd7435be245ecc[32] 佟丽华 and 展洪德, “‘小霸王’是否侵害了‘飞梭’？,” in 著作权纠纷, 1st ed., in 佟律师法律热线丛书. , 兵器工业出版社, 1999, pp. 175–179. ISBN: 7-80132-591-5. [Online]. Available: https://annas-archive.li/md5/0bc77b60c5f0e10026c8b9f491dce588