WEIGHTS, MEASURES, MONEY
CHINESE
WEIGHTS
1:333 oz. avoir., or 37-78 grammes
1 liang
16 liang
(tacl) make 1 kin
100 kin
(catty) make 1 tan
兩斤擔
(tacl)
斤(eatty)
1333 lbs. avoir., or 60153 grammes
擔(pieul)
120 kin
(catty) make 1 shin
= 石(stone)
133-333 lbs. avoir., or 60·153 kilogrammes
160.000 lbs. avoir., or 72:51 kilogrammes
Four ounces equal three taels; one pound equals three quarters of a catty or twelve taels one hundredweight equals 84 catties; one ton equals 16 piculs 80 catties.
10 fun
MEASURE OF CAPACITY
1 koh
(gill)
0-103 litre
10 koh
wake 1 sheng
(pint)
1.031 litre
10 sheng
make 1 tou
斗(peck)
10:31 litre
1 fun 分
MEASURE OF LENGTH
make 1 tsun † (inch)
10 tsun 10 chib
make 1 chih (foot)
make 1 chang ✈ (pole)
=
14 inch English
141 inch English
141 inches English
11 ft. 9 inches English
The length of the Chang is fixed by the Treaty of Tientsin at 11 inches.
about 5 feet English
about English Mile
5 chih
make 1 pú
步(pace)
360 pú
make 1 li
#L
10 li
250 li
里 innke I tang-sun 塘 (lengue)
make 1 tu
(degree)
about 3 English Miles
LAND MEASURE
5 chih
24 pú
60 pí
4 kioh
100 mow
1 chih 尺
make 1 pú 步
步wake 1 fun 芬 步wake 1 kioh 角 make 1 mow
= 13-126 inches
make 1 king
t
=
30-323 square feet
80-862 square yards
202-156 square yards
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, maoe, candareen, are not Chinese.
10 li
10 fèn
MONEY
1 li
(cash)
-032 of a penny
make 1 fên
(candareen)
=
牙 make 1 ch'ien 錢(mace)
-32 of a penny 3.2 pence 28. 8d.
10 ch'ien 錢 wake I liang 兩(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 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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