WEIGHTS, MEASURES, MONEY.
CHINESE
WEIGHTS
1333 oz. avoir., or 37·78 grammes
1 liang
(tacl)
16 liang
(tacl) make 1 kin
斤(catty)
1.333 lbs. avoir., or 60153 grammes
100 kin
(catty) make 1 tan
(catty) make I shih
120 kin
(picul)
133-333 lbs. avoir., or 60-153 kilogrammes
(stone) = 160·000 lbs. avoir., or 72·511 kilogrammes
Four ounces equal three taels; one pound equals three quarters of a catty or twelve taels ;
one hundredweight equals 81 catties; one ton equals 16 piculs 80 catties.
MEASURE OF CAPACITY
1 koh A (gill)
0.103 litro
10 koh
合 make1 sheng 升(pint)
-
1.031 litre
10 sheng make 1 tou 斗(peck)
10:31 litre
10 fun
芬 make tsun f (inch)
MEASURE OF LENGTH
1 fun
1
14 inch English
1:41 inch Englishı
10 tsun
make 1 chih
(foot)
=
141 inches English
10 chih
尺
make 1 chang
(pole)
=
11 ft. 9 inches English
The length of the Chang is fixed by the Treaty of Tientsin at 111 inches.
5 chih
360 pú
10 li
250 li
make 1 pú
make 1 li
步(pace) 里
= about 5 feet English
about English Mile
里 make 1 tang-sun 汛塘 (lengue) = about 31 English Miles 里 make 1 tu
(degree)
5 chih
LAND MEASURE
1 chih 尺
-
13.126 inches
make I pú
30-323 square feet
24 pú 步 make i fun 芬
80.862 square yards
GO pú
步 角
202·156 square yards
4 hioh
100 mow
make 1 kioh f
mako 1 mow
make 1 king t
20-73 square poles
16.7 acres
The Mow, which is the unit of measurement, is almost exactly one sixth of an acre.
Weights and measures in China vary in every province and almost every district, and
differ in the same districts for different kinds of goods. The words picul, catty, tael, mace candareen are not Chinese.
10 li
10 fén
MONEY
1 li 釐(cash)
make 1 fên
·032 of a penny
(candareen)
=
32 of a penny 3.2 pence 2s. 8d.
芬 make 1 ch'ien錢(mace)
10 ch'ien make 1 liang (tael)
The Tael may be taken as worth one and a third silver dollar.
The above are weights of silver. They are not represented by any coin except the copper cash, which is supposed to be the equivalent in value of a li of silver, but the value of which differs greatly in different districts and at different times. They have no uniform intrinsic value, being made large and small and of varying composition. Silver is used uncoined in ingots, usually of fifty taels more or less, in weight, called "shoes," the usual shape being not unlike a Chinese shoe. In the maritime district from Canton to Amoy chopped dollars are the general medium of exchange. In 1890 a mint was established for the coinage of silver dollars and subsidiary picces, and more recently mints for silver and copper coinage have been opened at Nanking, Wuchang, and Tientsin, and others are projected. The coins, although supposed to be of equal weight and fineness, are differently inscribed. Some of the foreign banks issue tael and dollar notes of the value of one dollar and upwards at the larger of the Treaty Ports.