Liang (mass)
Liang, or leung in Cantonese, liae in Wenzhounese, liong in Hakka, lian in Shanghainese, also called "Chinese ounce" or "tael", is a traditional Chinese unit for weight measurement. It originated in China before being introduced to neighboring countries in East and Southeast Asia.
Modern standards for the liang include 1/10 jin in mainland China, 37.5 grams in Taiwan, Korea and Thailand,
37.799 grams in Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia, and 37.8 grams in Vietnam.
Liang is mostly used in traditional markets, and is a well-known measure for gold, silver and Chinese medicines.
Mainland China
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.| Pinyin | Character | Relative value | Metric value | Imperial value | Notes |
| háo | 毫 | 3.7301 mg | 0.0001316 oz | ||
| lí | 釐 | 37.301 mg | 0.001316 oz | cash | |
| fēn | 分 | 373.01 mg | 0.01316 oz | candareen | |
| qián | 錢 | 3.7301 g | 0.1316 oz | mace or Chinese dram | |
| liǎng | 兩 | 1 | 37.301 g | 1.316 oz | tael or Chinese ounce |
| jīn | 斤 | 16 | 596.816 g | 1.316 lb | catty or Chinese pound |
where liang is the base unit, equal to 37.301 grams.
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.| Pinyin | Character | Relative value | Metric value | Imperial value | Notes |
| sī | 絲 | 312.5 μg | |||
| háo | 毫 | 3.125 mg | |||
| lí | 市釐 | 31.25 mg | cash | ||
| fēn | 市分 | 312.5 mg | candareen | ||
| qián | 市錢 | 3.125 g | 0.1102 oz | mace or Chinese dram | |
| liǎng | 市兩 | 31.25 g | 1.102 oz | tael or Chinese ounce | |
| jīn | 市斤 | 1 | 500 g | 1.102 lb | catty or Chinese pound |
| dàn | 擔 | 100 | 50 kg | 110.2 lb | picul or Chinese hundredweight |
where one liang is equal to 1/16 of a jin, or 31.25 grams.
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 measure 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."| Pinyin | Character | Relative value | Metric value | Imperial value | Notes |
| lí | 市厘 | 50 mg | cash | ||
| fēn | 市分 | 500 mg | candareen | ||
| qián | 市錢 | 5 g | 0.1764 oz | mace or Chinese dram | |
| liǎng | 市兩 | 50 g | 1.764 oz | tael or Chinese ounce | |
| jīn | 市斤 | 1 | 500 g | 1.102 lb | catty or Chinese pound formerly 16 liang = 1 jin |
| dàn | 市擔 | 100 | 50 kg | 110.2 lb | picul or Chinese hundredweight |
Legally, 1 jin equals 500 grams, and 10 liangs equal 1 jin. The traditional Chinese medicine measurement system remains unchanged.
Taiwan
In 1895, Taiwan was ceded to Japan from China. The Japanese implemented the metric system, but the Taiwanese still followed their own habits and continued to use the old weights and measures of the Qing dynasty. 1 Taiwan liang is equal to 37.5 grams, or 1/16 Taiwan jin.where liang is the base unit.
Hong Kong and Macau
Hong Kong and Macau mass units
The liang is a legal weight measure in Hong Kong, and is still in active use. One liang is 37.799364167 g, and in Ordinance 22 of 1884 is oz. avoir. Similar to Hong Kong, in Singapore, one tael is defined as ounce and is approximated as 37.7994 g.In Hong Kong and Singapore, one liang is equivalent to 10 qian or jin,. These Chinese units of measurement are usually used in Chinese herbal medicine stores as well as gold and silver exchange.
| Jyutping | Character | English | Portuguese | Relative value | Relation to the Traditional Chinese Units | Metric value | Imperial value | Notes |
| lei4 | 厘 | li | liz | condorim | ||||
| fan1 | 分 | fen | condorim | maz | 0.2133 dr | |||
| cin4 | 錢 | qian | maz | tael | 2.1333 dr | |||
| loeng2 | 兩 | liang | tael | ' | cate | ' | 1.3333 oz | 604.78982/16=37.79936375 |
| gan1 | 斤 | jin | cate | 1 | pico | 604.78982 g | 1.3333 lb | Hong Kong and Macau share the definition. |
| daam3 | 擔 | dan | pico | 100 | - | 60.478982 kg | 133.3333 lb | Hong Kong and Macau share the definition. |
Similarly, Singapore law stipulates that one jin is also equal to sixteen liangs or 0.6048 kilograms, and one liang equals 37.799 g. Malaysia has the same regulations as it is a former British colony.
Hong Kong troy units
These are used for trading precious metals such as gold and silver.| English | Character | Relative value | Metric value | Imperial value | Notes |
| fen troy | 金衡分 | 374.29 mg | 0.096 drt | ||
| qian troy | 金衡錢 | 3.7429 g | 0.96 drt | ||
| liang troy | 金衡兩 | 1 | 37.429 g | 1.2 ozt |
Korea
The base unit of Korean weight is the gwan. One liang is 1/100 of a gwan, or 37.5 g.Vietnam
In Vietnam, the unit of liang is called "lang". In the time of French Indochina, the colonial administration fixed the ' as 100 g, which is commonly used at food markets where many items typically weigh in the 100–900 g range. However, a different lang unit of 37.5 g is used for domestic transactions in gold. Real estate prices are often quoted in liangs of gold rather than the local currency over concerns over monetary inflation.| Name in Chữ Quốc ngữ | Hán/Nôm name | Traditional value | Traditional conversion | Modern value | Modern conversion |
| tấn | 擯 | 604.5 kg | 10 tạ | kg | 10 tạ |
| quân | 302.25 kg | 5 tạ | 500 kg | obsolete | |
| tạ | 榭 | 60.45 kg | 10 yến | 100 kg | 10 yến |
| bình | 30.225 kg | 5 yến | 50 kg | obsolete | |
| yến | 6.045 kg | 10 cân | 10 kg | 10 cân | |
| cân | 斤 | 604.5 g | 16 lạng | 1 kg | 10 lạng |
| nén | 378 g | 10 lạng | |||
| lạng | 兩' | 37.8 g | 10 đồng | 100 g | |
| đồng or tiền | 錢 | 3.78 g | 10 phân | ||
| phân | 分 | 0.38 g | 10 ly | ||
| ly or li | 厘 | 37.8 mg | 10 hào | ||
| hào | 毫 | 3.8 mg | 10 ti | ||
| ti | 絲 | 0.4 mg | 10 hốt | ||
| hốt | 忽 | 0.04 mg | 10 vi | ||
| vi'' | 微 | 0.004 mg |
For more information on the Chinese mass measurement system, please see article Jin.