Li (mass)

Li, called lei in Cantonese, ly in Vietnamese or "cash" in English, is a traditional Chinese unit for weight measurement. It originated in China before being introduced to neighboring countries in East Asia. Nowaday, the mass of 1 li equals 50 mg in mainland China, 37.5 mg in Taiwan,
37.8 mg in Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia, and 37.8 mg in Vietnam. Li is mostly used in the traditional markets.

China Mainland

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 minor amendment.

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

where 1 li equals 50 mg or 0.05 grams, and 10 li equals 1 fen.

The Taiwanese still use the old weights and measures of the Chinese Qing Dynasty. 1 Taiwan li is equal to 37.5 mg, or 1/10 Taiwan fen.

In Hong Kong, one li is equal to 1/10 fen, which is 37.799 mg or 0.037799 grams.

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 (fan, candareen)	condorim		maz		0.2133 dr
cin4	錢	qian (mace, tsin)	maz		tael		2.1333 dr
loeng2	兩	liang (leung, tael)	tael		cate		1.3333 oz	604.78982/16=37.79936375
gan1	斤	jin (gan, catty)	cate	1	pico	604.78982 g	1.3333 lb	Hong Kong and Macau share the definition.
daam3	擔	dan, (tam, picul)	pico	100	-	60.478982 kg	133.3333 lb	Hong Kong and Macau share the definition.

Singapore and Malaysia have similar regulations as Hong Kong, as they are all former British colonies.

In Vietnam, 1 li or ly is equal to 37.8 mg or 1/10 fen by traditional value.

For more information on the Chinese mass measurement system, please see article Jin (mass).