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Jin (mass)
Traditional Chinese unit of weight From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The jin (Chinese: 斤; pinyin: jīn)[a] or catty (from Malay kati) is a traditional Chinese unit of mass used across East and Southeast Asia, notably for weighing food and other groceries. Related units include the picul (dan/shi), equal to 100 catties, and the tael (liang), which is 1⁄16 of a catty. A stone (also dan/shi) is a former unit used in Hong Kong equal to 120 catties and a gwan (鈞) is 30 catties. Catty or kati is still used in Southeast Asia as a unit of measurement in some contexts especially by the significant Overseas Chinese populations across the region, particularly in Malaysia and Singapore.
The catty is traditionally equivalent to around 1+1⁄3 pound avoirdupois, formalised as 604.78982 grams in Hong Kong,[1] 604.5 grams historically in Vietnam,[2] 604.79 grams in Malaysia[3] and 604.8 grams in Singapore.[4] In some countries, the weight has been rounded to 600 grams (Taiwan,[5] Japan, Korea[6] and Thailand). In mainland China, the catty (more commonly translated as jin within China) has been rounded to 500 grams and is referred to as the market catty (市斤 shìjīn) in order to distinguish it from the kilogram, called the common catty (公斤 gōngjīn), and it is subdivided into 10 taels rather than the usual 16.
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History
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In ancient China, there was an official post called "Sima" (司馬) in charge of the military affairs. Because the management of military grain and fodder involved plenty of weighing, the units of jin, liang, qian, fen etc. were also called as "Sima Jin" (司馬斤), "Sima Liang", etc., and the measuring tools were called "Sima Scales" (司馬秤). This is still true in today's Hong Kong. One Sima jin is equal to sixteen Sima liang, which is where the idiom "half a jin vs eight liang"[b][7] comes from.[8][9]
The actual mass of the jin has changed in different eras and regions, but its ratio to other relevant units remains unchanged: One jin is equal to sixteen liangs, or 1/120 of a dan. Starting from the late Qing Dynasty, jin was also written in English as catty or kan based on the sounds of Malay language.[11]
Before the Qing Dynasty, various regions and industries in China had their own weight standards for jin and liang. During the Qing Dynasty, unified weights and measures were implemented. One late-Qing jin was 596.816 grams according to the Beiyang government, which equaled 16 liangs.[12]
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China Mainland
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Chinese mass units promulgated in 1915
On 7 January 1915, the Beiyang government promulgated a measurement law to use not only metric system as the standard but also a set of Chinese-style measures based directly on the Qing dynasty definitions (营造尺库平制).[12][13]
where liang is the base unit.
Mass units in the Republic of China since 1930
On 16 February 1929, the Nationalist government adopted and promulgated The Weights and Measures Act[14] to adopt the metric system as the official standard and to limit the newer Chinese units of measurement to private sales and trade, effective on 1 January 1930. These newer "market" units are based on rounded metric numbers. And jin became the base unit.[15]
Mass units in the People's Republic of China since 1959
On June 25, 1959, the State Council of the People's Republic of China issued the Order on the Unified Measurement System, retaining the market system, with the statement of "The market system originally stated that sixteen liangs are equal to one jin. Due to the trouble of conversion, it should be changed to ten liangs per jin."[16]
Legally, 1 jin equals 500 grams, and 10 liang equals 1 jin (that is, 1 liang equals 50 grams). The traditional Chinese medicine measurement system remains unchanged.[16]
Mass units in traditional Chinese medicine
Until 1979, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) generally kept the division of 16 liang in 1 (500-gram) jin. In 1979, the State Council of China issued an order to switch to metric units for the trade of TCM. Previously-used qian is to be treated as exactly 3 grams, with other units derived from the 1/16-jin liang scaled accordingly.[17]
Weight units in ancient TCM prescriptions should be interpreted using the metric (gram) conversions appropriate for the era (see above), not any modern version of these units.[18]
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Taiwan
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The jin, or kin, in Taiwan is called "Taiwan jin" or Taijin (台斤). The so-called Taijin is actually the jin used throughout China during the Qing Dynasty. In 1895, Taiwan was ceded to Japan. The Japanese implemented the metric system, but Taiwan continued to use the old weights and measures. When mainland China no longer used the old system of the Qing Dynasty, the old system of weights used in Taiwan naturally became the so-called "Taiwan system." 1 Taiwan jin is 600 grams, which is equal to 16 Taiwan liang, and 1 Taiwan liang is equal to 37.5 grams.[19]
Hong Kong and Macau
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Hong Kong and Macau mass units
According to the original Hong Kong law, Article 22 of 1884, one jin is 1 and 1⁄3 British pounds (that is, 3 jins is equal to 4 pounds). Currently, Hong Kong law stipulates that one jin is equal to one hundredth of a dan or sixteen liangs, which is 0.604 789 82 kilograms.[1] (0.604 789 82 kg divided by 4⁄3 is 0.453 592 65 kg, the 1878 definition of the British Avoirdupois pound.)
Hong Kong troy units
These are used for trading precious metals such as gold and silver, defined around the British troy weight system.
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Malaysia and Singapore
Malaysia has the same regulations as it is a former British colony. The rounding is slightly different, as 0.604 79 kg.
Similarly, Singapore law stipulates that one jin, or "catty", is also equal to 1 1⁄3 pounds, which is equal to sixteen liangs (or "taels") or 0.6048 kg.[4]
Japan
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In Japan, 1 jin, or kin in Japanese pronunciation, is equal to 600 grams, but it is rarely used. The exception is the jin that is currently measured by the large piece of bread (food bread) before slicing the toast. According to the fair competition regulations of the Japanese Bread Fair Trade Council, a jin only needs to be more than 340 grams. Therefore, 510 grams can be called 1.5 jins.[24]
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Korea
The base unit of Korean weight is the gwan.[25] At the time of Korea's metrification, however, the Geun or Korean pound, was in more common use. It was usually taken as equivalent to 600 g.[26] The nyang also sees some use among Korea's vendors of traditional Chinese medicine.[27]
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Vietnam
In Vietnam, the unit of jin is called "cân ta": 1 Sima jin (cân ta) = 0.6046 kilograms = 604.6 grams. The following table lists common units of weight in Vietnam in the early 20th century:[33]
Notes:
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Jin, pound and kilogram
The three mass units of "jin", "pound" and "kilogram" are all currently used in China. Their meanings and conversions in Mainland China are as follows:[36]
- 市斤 (Chinese jin; character-by-character translation: "market jin"): Or simply called jin, also called "Chinese pound", is a traditional Chinese unit of weight. In the "market unit" (市制) adopted since 1930 in Mainland China, a jin equals 500 grams.
- 公斤 (kilogram, literally "common jin"): An international metric unit, equivalent to 1000 grams.[36]
- 磅 (pound, "pound"): A British Imperial unit, about 453.6 grams.
1 Chinese jin = 0.5 kilograms = 1.1023 pounds in Mainland China.[36]
Society and culture
Etymology
The word catty comes from Malay kati, meaning 'the weight'. It has also been borrowed into English as caddy, meaning a container for storing tea.
Chinese idioms
Gallery
Fruit sold in catties in a market in Sanchong, New Taipei, Taiwan.
Tea priced by the catty in Dadaocheng, Taipei, Taiwan.
A spring scale in Hong Kong shows conversions between metric system (in red), traditional Chinese unit (in green) and British Imperial Units (in blue).
See also
Notes
References
External links
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