Dou (volume)

Dou (Chinese: 斗; pinyin: dǒu), called to in Japan, du in Korea, and đấu in Vietnam and sometimes translated as a scoop or ladle, is a traditional unit of volume in East Asia. It originated in China and later spread to other places. One dou equals 10 sheng or 1/10 dan, now officially 10 liters in China,^[1][2] 18.039 liters in Japan^[3] and 18 liters in Korea.^[4]

Dou is one of the traditional Chinese units of measurement used to measure cereal grains, among other things.^[5]

China

Table of Chinese volume units effective since 1930^[1][5]

Pinyin	Character	Relative value	Metric value	US value	Imperial value	Notes
cuō	撮	1⁄1000	1 mL	0.0338 fl oz	0.0352 fl oz	millilitre
sháo	勺	1⁄100	10 mL	0.3381 fl oz	0.3520 fl oz	centilitre
gě	合	1⁄10	100 mL	3.381 fl oz	3.520 fl oz	decilitre
shēng	市升	1	1 L	2.113 pt	1.760 pt	litre
dǒu	市斗	10	10 L	21.13 pt 2.64 gal	17.60 pt 2.20 gal	decalitre
dàn	市石	100	100 L	26.41 gal	22.0 gal	hectolitre

Japan

Table of volume units in Japan^[3][6]

Unit		Shō	Metric		US		Imperial
Romanized	Kanji		Exact	Approx.	Exact	Approx.	Exact	Approx.
Sai	才	1⁄1000	⁠2401/1,331,000⁠ L	1.804 mL	⁠37,515,625/15,900,351,812,136⁠ cu yd	29.28 min	⁠240,100/605,084,579⁠ gal	30.47 min
						0.1101 cu in
Shaku	勺	1⁄100	⁠2401/133,100⁠ L	18.04 mL	⁠187,578,125/7,950,175,906,068⁠ cu yd	0.6100 fl oz	⁠2,401,000/605,084,579⁠ gal	0.6349 fl oz
						1.101 cu in
Gō	合	1⁄10	⁠2401/13,310⁠ L	180.4 mL	⁠937,890,625/3,975,087,953,034⁠ cu yd	0.3812 pt	⁠24,010,000/605,084,579⁠ gal	0.3174 pt
						0.3276 dry pt
Shō	升	1	⁠2401/1331⁠ L	1.804 L	⁠4,689,453,125/1,987,543,976,517⁠ cu yd	1.906 qt	⁠240,100,000/605,084,579⁠ gal	1.587 qt
						1.638 dry qt
To	斗	10	⁠24,010/1331⁠ L	18.04 L	⁠46,894,531,250/1,987,543,976,517⁠ cu yd	4.765 gal	⁠2,401,000,000/605,084,579⁠ gal	3.968 gal
						2.048 pk
Koku	石	100	⁠240,100/1331⁠ L	180.4 L	⁠468,945,312,500/1,987,543,976,517⁠ cu yd	47.65 gal	⁠24,010,000,000/605,084,579⁠ gal	39.680 gal
						5.119 bu
Notes: Approximations are rounded to four significant figures.

Korea

Table of volume units in Korea^{[7] [8]}

Romanization			Korean	English	Equivalents
RR	MR[9]	Other			Doe[10]	Other countries	Global
Jak	Chak		작(勺)		1⁄100		18 mL (0.63 imp fl oz; 0.61 US fl oz)
Hop	Hop		홉		1⁄10	Ge	180 mL (6.3 imp fl oz; 6.1 US fl oz)[a][10]
Doe	Toe	Doi[10] Dwe[4]	되	Korean Peck[11]	1		1.8 L (0.40 imp gal; 0.48 US gal)[b][10]
Seung	Sŭng		승(升)
Mal	Mal		말	Korean Bushel	10		18 L (4.0 imp gal; 4.8 US gal)[c][10]
Du	Tu		두(斗)
Seom	Sŏm		섬	Korean Picul[12]	100	Picul	180 L (40 imp gal; 48 US gal)[d][10]
Seok	Sŏk	Suk[10]	석(石)
Jeom	Chŏm		점(苫)
Sogok	Sogok		소곡(小斛)		150		270 L (59 imp gal; 71 US gal)
Pyeongseok	P'yŏngsŏk		평석(平石)
Daegok	Taegok		대곡(大斛)		200		360 L (79 imp gal; 95 US gal)
Jeonseok	Chŏnsŏk		전석(全石)

For more details, please see Sheng (volume)

Words

• 斗室 (dǒu shì)
• 車載斗量 (chē zài dǒu liàng)
• 不為五斗米折腰 (bù wèi wǔ dǒu mǐ zhéyāo)

See also

• Chinese units of measurement
• Japanese units of measurement
• Korean units of measurement
• zh:中國度量衡

Notes

1. The variant figures in Fessley ^[9] and the UN^[10] reports are based on the imperial measuring system.
2. imp
3. imp
4. imp