Metrology Codexery

Chinese units of measurement

Traditional Han Chinese measurement system, still used in modified forms.

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The Qing dynasty's 营造尺库平制 system formally defined Chinese units of measurement.[1] In 1929, the Nationalist government enacted a law that made the metric system the official standard while also adopting "market" units derived from rounded metric numbers for private trade.[2][3]

Quick Facts

Origin
Legendary Yellow Emperor; unified by Yu the Great
System type
Traditional, decimal and hexadecimal bases
Modern status
  • Legal for trade in PRC
  • Taiwan
  • Hong Kong
  • Macau

Facts from the source article.

Key facts and history

The Nationalist government's 1929 Weights and Measures Act adopted the metric system as official and limited Chinese units to private trade, effective 1 January 1930.[2] The People's Republic of China continued the market system alongside metric, decreeing on 25 June 1959 that 1 catty equals 500 grams and is divided into 10 new taels instead of 16 old taels.[4] Chinese prescription drugs were exempted from that conversion to prevent errors.[4] On 27 February 1984, the State Council ordered the market system to remain acceptable only until the end of 1990, but farmland measures were exempt from mandatory metrication.[5]

On 7 January 1915, the Beiyang government issued a measurement law that made the metric system the standard and also kept a set of Chinese-style units based on the Qing dynasty definitions.[1] Hong Kong's 1976 Metrication Ordinance provided for a gradual shift to SI units, and by 2012 the metric, Imperial, and Chinese systems were all legally permitted for trade.[6]

What the cited sources add

The Hong Kong government's Metrication Ordinance, enacted in 1976, provides for eventual replacement of non-metric units by SI units in all legislation.[7] Government departments in Hong Kong use metric units exclusively.[7] Wu Chenglou's 1937 work, History of Chinese Measurement, served as the main reference until the 1980s, but it depended largely on written records that survived.[8] A classified bibliography covering research from 1925 to 2012, arranged by historical period, was put together by Cao and colleagues in 2012.[9][10]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Chinese units of measurement" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "政府公報 [Zhèngfǔ Gōngbào, Government Gazette]", Office of the President, July 2021, p. 85–94 }}{{Dead link (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Chinese units of measurement" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "The Weights and Measures Act: Legislative History", Ministry of Justice (Republic of China) (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Chinese units of measurement" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "The Weights and Measures Act (1929)", Legislative Yuan (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Chinese units of measurement" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: 1959 Gazette of the State Council of the People's Republic of China, No. 180, pages 311 to 312 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Chinese units of measurement" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Decree of the State Council Concerning the Use of Uniform Legal Measures in the Country (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Chinese units of measurement" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Yearbook HK. "Yearbook." Metrication. Retrieved on 26 April 2007.; Cap. 68 WEIGHTS AND MEASURES ORDINANCE (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Yearbook HK. "Yearbook." Metrication. Retrieved on 26 April 2007.. facts only, no text reused. yearbook.gov.hk
  8. Wikipedia, "Chinese units of measurement" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Wu, "《中國度量衡史》 [Zhōngguó Dùliànghéng Shǐ]", 1937 }}, 2nd ed. in 1957, 3rd ed. in 1993. {{in lang (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  9. Wikipedia, "Chinese units of measurement" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Wilkinson, "Chinese History: A Manual", Harvard University Asia Center, 2000, p. 244–245; Qiu, "《中国古代计量史图鉴》 [Zhōngguó Gǔdài Jìliàng Shǐ Tújiàn]", Hefei University Press, 2005; Cao, "Chinese, Japanese and Western Research in Chinese Historical Metrology: A Classified Bibliography (1925-2012)", Institute for Chinese and Korean Studies at the University of Tübingen, 2012; Wilkinson, "Chinese History: A Manual", Harvard University Asia Center, 2000, p. 244–245 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  10. Cao, "Chinese, Japanese and Western Research in Chinese Historical Metrology: A Classified Bibliography (1925-2012)", Institute for Chinese and Korean Studies at the University of Tübingen, 2012. facts only, no text reused. publikationen.uni-tuebingen.de

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Chinese units of measurement (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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Named in this entry

Unit of measurementYu the Great

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Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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