WEIGHTS, MEASURES, MONEY
CHINESE
WEIGHTS
(tael) =
1.333 oz. avoir., or 37.78 grammes
1 liang
16 liang
(tael) make 1 kin
斤(catty)
=
1.333 lbs. avoir., or 604-53 grammes
100 kin
(catty) make 1 tan
擔(picul)
120 kin F
(catty) make 1 shin
=
133-333 lbs. avoir., or 60:453 kilogrammes
(stone) 160·000 lbs. avoir., or 72:544 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
✩ (gill) 0.103 litre
=
10 koh
10 sheng
10 fun
10 tsun
10 chih
wake 1 sheng # (pint) make 1 tou
-
1.031 litre
(peck) -10-31 litre
MEASURE OF
LENGTH
14 inch English
1 fun 分
make 1 tsun† (inch) make 1 chih
(foot)
=
make 1 chang✯ (pole)
=
1-41 anch English
141 inches English
11 ft. 9 inches English
The length of the Chang is fixed by the Treaty of Tientsin at 141 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 l tang-sun塘 (league) = about 34 English Miles
make 1 tu
LAND MEASURE
度(degree)
1 chih R
= 13.126 inches
5 chih
make 1 pú
30-323 square feet
24 pú
I fun 芬 步make
80-862 square yards
60 pú 步 make I kioh 角
202-156 square yards
4 kioh
100 mow
make 1 mow make 1 king t
=
26-73 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
牙
10 ch'ien
MONEY
1 li 釐(cash)
make 1 fên 芬(candareen)
make 1 ch'ien錢(nace)
make 1 liang (tael)
*032 of a penny
•32 of a penny
8.2 pence
28. 8d.
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 pieces, 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.
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