Chinese units of measurement
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A Traditional Chinese scale
A Traditional Chinese scale

Chinese units of measurement (Chinese: 市制; pinyin: Shìzhì; literally "market system") are the customary and traditional units of measure used in the People's Republic of China. The units were standardized during the twentieth century to make them approximate SI (metric) units. Many of the units were formerly based on the number 16 instead of 10. Hong Kong was outside the reform, and now the traditional units are used alongside with metric units. The Taiwanese units of measurement, which appeared under the colonial influences of the Dutch and the Japanese, for the most part may have similar names but are different from the Chinese units of measurement.

The Chinese name for most SI units is based on that of the closest traditional unit. When it is necessary to emphasize which system is used, the words "market" (市 shì) for traditional units or "common/standard" (公 gōng) for SI units may be added in front of the name. SI is the official system of units, but traditional units are still ubiquitously used in everyday life.

Note: The names lí (厘) and fēn (分) for small units are the same for length, area, and mass; however, they refer to different kinds of measurements.

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History

According to the Liji, the legendary Yellow Emperor created the first measurement units. The Xiao Erya and Kongzi jiayu state that length units were derived from the human body. According to the Records of the Grand Historian, these human body units caused inconsistency, and Yu the Great, another legendary figure, unified the length measurements. Rulers with decimal units have been unearthed from Shang Dynasty tombs.

In the Zhou Dynasty, the king conferred nobles with powers of the state, and the measurement units began to be inconsistent from state and state. After the Warring States Period, Qin Shi Huang unified China, and later standardized measurement units. In the Han Dynasty, these measurements were still being used, and were documented systematically in the Book of Han.

Astronomical instruments show little change of the length of chi in the following centuries, since the calendar need to be consistent. It was not until the introduction of decimal units in the Ming Dynasty that the traditional system was revised. In 1928, the government of the Republic of China adopted the metric system as the official standard.

In 1976 the Hong Kong Metrication Ordinance allowed a gradual replacement of the system in favor of the International System of Units (SI) metric system.[1].

The government of the People's Republic of China resumed using the traditional system until 1984, when it adopted the SI system. The SI system became the national standard in 1987.

Length

All "Metric values" given in the tables are exact unless otherwise specified by the approximation sign '~'.

Modern Chinese units

Table of length (modern Chinese) units
Unit Hanzi Relative value Metric value Imperial value Notes
hū 忽 1/1 000 000 1/3 µm
sī 丝 1/100 000 3 1/3 µm
háo 毫 1/10 000 33 1/3 µm
lí 市厘 1/1000 1/3 mm
fēn 市分 1/100 3 1/3 mm ~0.1312 in
cùn 市寸 1/10 3 1/3 cm ~1.312 in
chǐ 市尺 1 33 1/3 cm ~1.094 ft Chinese foot
bù 步 5 1 2/3 m ~1.823 yd Chinese pace
zhàng 市丈 10 3 1/3 m ~3.645 yd
yǐn 引 100 33 1/3 m ~36.45 yd
lǐ 市里 1500 500 m ~546.8 yd this li is not the small li above,
which has a different character and tone

Hong Kong units

Table of length (Hong Kong) units
Unit Hanzi Relative value Metric value Imperial value Notes
fan 分 1/100 ~3.715 mm ~0.1463 in
tsun 寸 1/10 ~3.715 cm ~1.463 in
chek 尺 1 ~37.15 cm ~1.219 ft Hong Kong foot
Exactly 0.371475 metres

Area

Modern Chinese units

Table of area (modern Chinese) units
Unit Hanzi Relative value Metric value Imperial value Notes
lí 市厘 1 6 2/3 m² ~7.973 sq yd
fēn 市分 10 66 2/3 m² ~79.73 sq yd 10 li
mǔ 市亩,
畝		 100 666 2/3 m² ~797.3 sq yd, or
~0.1647 acres		 10 fen, or
60 zhang²
shí (市)石 1,000 6,666 2/3 m² ~1.647 acres 10 mu
qǐng 市顷 10,000 6 2/3 Ha ~16.47 acres 10 shí or 100 mǔ

Chinese square area

Table of area (modern Chinese square) units
Unit Hanzi Relative value Metric value Imperial value Notes
fāng cùn 方寸 1/100 11 1/9 cm² ~1.722 sq in 100 fen²
fāng chǐ 方尺 1 1/9 m² ~172.2 sq in, or
~1.196 sq ft		 100 cun²
fāng zhang 方丈 100 11 1/9 m² ~119.6 sq ft, or
~13.29 sq yd		 100 chi²

Volume

These units are used to measure cereal grains.

Table of volume (modern Chinese) units
Unit Hanzi Relative value Metric value US dry value Imperial value Notes
cuō 撮 1/1000 1 ml
sháo 勺 1/100 10 ml ~0.6102 cu in
gě 合 1/10 100 ml ~0.1816 pints ~6.102 cu in
shēng 市升 1 1 L ~1.816 pints ~61.02 cu in
dǒu 市斗 10 10 L ~18.16 pints, or
~2.27 gallons		 ~610.2 cu in, or
~0.3531 cu ft
dàn 市石 100 100 L ~22.7 gallons ~3.531 cu ft

Mass

These units are used to measure the mass of objects. They are also famous for measuring monetary objects such as gold and silver. The decimal system has not been fully adopted by Chinese citizenscitation needed.

Table of mass (modern Chinese) units

Modern Chinese units
Unit Hanzi Relative value Metric value Imperial value Notes
hū 忽 1/10 000 000 50 µg
sī 絲 1/1000 000 500 µg
háo 毫 1/100 000 5 mg
lí 市厘 1/10 000 50 mg
fēn 市分 1/1000 500 mg ~0.2822 dr candareen
qián 市钱 1/100 5 g ~2.822 dr mace
liǎng 市两 1/10 50 g ~1.764 oz tael or Chinese ounce
jīn 市斤 1 500 g ~1.102 lb catty or Chinese pound
formerly 16 liang = 1 jin = 604.79 g
dàn 市担 / 擔 100 50 kg ~110.2 lb picul or Chinese hundredweight

Hong Kong units

(Pronunciation information is in Jyutping.)

Table of mass (Hong Kong) units
Unit Hanzi Relative value Metric value Imperial value Notes
candareen 分 (fen1) 1/1600 ~378 mg ~0.2133 dr
mace 錢 (tsin2) 1/160 ~3.78 g ~2.133 dr
tael 兩 (leung5) 1/16 ~37.8 g ~1.333 oz Exactly 37.799 363 75 g
catty 斤 (gan1) 1 ~604.8 g ~1.333 lb Exactly 0.604 789 82 kg
picul 担 (daam4) 100 ~60.48 kg ~133.3 lb

Hong Kong Troy units

These are used for trading precious metals such as gold and silver.

Table of mass (Hong Kong troy) units
Unit Hanzi Relative value Metric value Imperial value Notes
candareen troy 金衡分 1/100 ~374.3 mg ~0.2112 dr
mace troy 金衡錢 1/10 ~3.743 g ~2.112 dr
tael troy 金衡兩 1 ~37.43 g ~1.32 oz Exactly 37.429 grams

Time

Table of time units
Unit Hanzi Relative value Western value Notes
miǎo 秒 1 second
old fēn 分 1/60 kè 15 seconds No longer in common usage
fēn 分 1 minute
zi 字 5 minutes Used mostly in dialogue, since saying 'minutes' implies more accuracy and usually one syllable longer.
kè 刻 60 old fēn 15 minutes Historically this had been defined as 1/96, 1/100, 1/108, or 1/120 of a day. The value here is the modern conventional value (1/96 day).
xiǎoshí 小时 4 kè 1 hour
shíchén 时辰 8 kè 2 hours No longer in common use; retains religious, ceremonial and traditional usage. (Mostly used in religious purposes.)
rì,
or tiān		 日,
or 天		 12 shíchén 24 hours

Since 1645 (except for 1665–1669), the above equivalents have been true. Except for several short periods of a few years each, before 1645 (before the Qing dynasty) the following were true:

1 rì 
= 12 shíchén = 100 kè, and
1 shíchén 
= 8 1/3 kè = 8 kè 20 fēn.

References

Notes

  1. ^ Yearbook HK. "Yearbook." Metrication. Retrieved on 2007-04-26.

See also
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