• Source: Jin (mass)

Jin (Chinese: 斤; pinyin: jīn), or gan in Cantonese, also called "Chinese pound" or "catty", is a traditional Chinese unit for weight measurement in East Asia. It originated in China mainland before being introduced to neighboring countries.
Nowaday, the mass of 1 jin ranges between 500 to 610 grams in different places: 500 grams in mainland China, 600 grams in Taiwan, Japan, Korea and Thailand,


604.78982 grams in Hong Kong, and 604.8 grams in Singapore and Malaysia.

The Jin system is mostly used in the traditional markets, and famous for measuring gold, silver and Chinese medicines.




History


China has been using its weight measurement systems since the Zhou Dynasty, mostly with jin as the base unit.
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 eit. 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 how the idiom "half a jin vs eight liangs" comes from.

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 shi. Starting from the late Qing Dynasty, jin was also written in English as catty or kan based on the sounds of Malay language.
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 jin was approximately 596.816 grams, which equaled 16 liangs.




China Mainland






= 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).

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 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.




= 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. "

Legally, 1 jin equals 500 grams, and 10 liangs equals 1 jin (that is, 1 liang equals 50 grams). The traditional Chinese medicine measurement system remains unchanged (that is, 1 jin is 605 grams, and 16 liang is 1 jin).




Taiwan



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 the Taiwanese still followed their own habits and 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.




Hong Kong and Macau


According to the original Hong Kong law, Article 22 of 1884, one jin is 1 and 1⁄3 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 0.60478982 kilograms.

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 kilograms. Malaysia has the same regulations as it is a former British colony.
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".




Japan


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 Japan Bread Fair Trade Council (Japanese Bread Fair Trade Council), a jin only needs to be more than 340 grams. Therefore, 510 grams can be called 1.5 jins.
The base unit of Japanese mass is the kan, although the momme is more common. It is a recognised unit in the international pearl industry. In English-speaking countries, momme is typically abbreviated as mo.




Korea


The base unit of Korean weight is the gwan. At the time of Korea's metrification, however, the pound was in more common use. Although it was usually taken as equivalent to 600 g, as with red pepper and meats, a separate pound of 400 g was used for fruits and another of 375 or 200 g was used for vegetables. The nyang also sees some use among Korea's vendors of traditional Chinese medicine.
The "bag" (kama) was a variable unit usually figured as 54 kg of unhusked rice or 60 kg of polished rice, although 90 kg "bags" were also used.




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:

Notes:

The cân (lit. "scale") is also called cân ta ("our scale") to distinguish it from the kilogram (cân tây, "Western scale").




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:

市斤 (Chinese jin; character-by-character translation: "market jin"): Or simply called jin, is a traditional Chinese unit of weight, equals 500 grams.
公斤 (kilogram, "common jin"): An international metric unit, equivalent to 1000 grams.
磅 (pound, "pound"): A British Imperial unit, about 453.6 grams.
1 Chinese jin =0.5 kilograms = 1.1023 pounds in Mainland China.




See also


Chinese units of measurement
Hong Kong units of measurement
Taiwanese units of measurement
Japanese units of measurement
Korean units of measurement
Vietnamese units of measurement




Notes






References






External links


中國度量衡#衡
市制
斤

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