Sheng (volume)
The sheng, also known as the Chinese liter, is a traditional unit of volume originating in China. It was later adopted in Japan, where it is known as the sho, in Korea as the seung, and in Vietnam and other East Asian regions. One sheng is equal to 10 ge or 1⁄10 dou, although its exact capacity has varied across historical periods and regions.
In modern usage, the value of one sheng differs by country: in China, it is defined as exactly 1 litre; in Japan, one sho equals approximately 1.8039 litres; and in Korea, one seung is 1.8 litres.
Historically, the sheng was primarily used as a measure for cereal grains. In contemporary contexts, it is more commonly used, like the litre, to measure liquids or gases.
Ancient systems
As a unit of volume, the sheng emerged during the Warring States period and has been in continuous use since then.| Dynasty | Unit conversion | Metric conversion | Qi : 1 zhong = 10 fu ; 1 fu = 4 qu ; 1 qu = 4 dou ; 1 dou = 4 sheng — Chu : 1 shao = 5 sheng — | |
| Qin | Three Qin 1 hu = 10 dou ; 1 dou = 10 sheng | 1 hu = 20,000 ml; 1 dou = 2,000 ml; 1 sheng = 200 ml; Shang Yang's Reform : 1 cubic sheng = 201 ml | ||
| Han | 1 hu =10 dou ；1 斗=10 sheng ；1 升=10 ge ；1合=2 lun ；1龠=5 cuo ；1撮=4 gui | 1 hu = 20,000 ml; 1 dou = 2,000 ml; 1 sheng = 200 ml; 1 ge = 20 ml; 1 lun = 10 ml; 1 cuo = 2 ml; 1 gui = 0.5 ml | ||
| Three Kingdoms and Jin | 1 hu = 10 dou; 1 dou = 10 sheng; 1 sheng = 10 ge | 1 hu = 20,450 ml; 1 dou = 2,045 ml; 1 sheng = 204.5 ml; 1 ge = 20.45 ml | ||
| Northern and Southern Dynasties | 1 hu = 10 dou; 1 dou = 10 sheng; 1 sheng = 10 ge | 1 hu = 30,000 ml; 1 dou = 3,000 ml; 1 sheng = 300 ml; 1 ge = 30 ml | ||
| Sui | 1 hu = 10 dou; 1 dou = 10 sheng; 1 sheng = 10 ge | Kaihuang : 1 hu = 60,000 ml; 1 dou = 6,000 ml; 1 sheng = 600 ml; 1 ge = 60 ml Daye : 1 hu = 20,000 ml; 1 dou = 2,000 ml; 1 sheng = 200 ml; 1 ge = 20 ml | ||
| Tang | 1 hu = 10 dou; 1 dou = 10 sheng; 1 sheng = 10 ge | Large system : 1 hu = 60,000 ml; 1 dou = 6,000 ml; 1 sheng = 600 ml; 1 ge = 60 ml Small system : 1 hu = 20,000 ml; 1 dou = 2,000 ml; 1 sheng = 200 ml; 1 ge = 20 ml | ||
| Song | 1 dan = 2 hu; 1 hu = 5 dou; 1 dou = 10 sheng; 1 sheng = 10 ge | 1 dan = 67,000 ml; 1 hu = 33,500 ml; 1 dou = 6,700 ml; 1 sheng = 670 ml; 1 ge = 67 ml | ||
| Yuan | 1 dan = 2 hu; 1 hu = 5 dou; 1 dou = 10 sheng; 1 sheng = 10 ge | 1 dan = 95,000 ml; 1 hu = 47,500 ml; 1 dou = 9,500 ml; 1 sheng = 950 ml; 1 ge = 95 ml | ||
| Ming & Qing | 1 dan = 2 hu; 1 hu = 5 dou; 1 dou = 10 sheng; 1 sheng = 10 ge | 1 dan = 100,000 ml; 1 hu = 50,000 ml; 1 dou = 10,000 ml; 1 sheng = 1,000 ml; 1 ge = 100 ml |
Modern systems
China
The sheng was established as the base unit in the volume measurement system promulgated by the Chinese government in 1915. At that time, one sheng was defined as 1.0354688 litres.| Pinyin | Character | Relative value | Metric value | US value | Imperial value | Notes |
| sháo | 勺 | 0.3501 fl oz | 0.3644 fl oz | |||
| gě | 合 | 3.501 fl oz | 3.644 fl oz | |||
| shēng | 升 | 1 | 2.188 pt | 1.822 pt | ||
| dǒu | 斗 | 10 | 2.735 gal | 2.278 gal | ||
| hú | 斛 | 50 | 13.68 gal | 11.39 gal | ||
| dàn | 石 | 100 | 27.35 gal | 22.78 gal |
A revised system was introduced in the Weights and Measures Acts of the 18th year of the Republic of China, effective from 1 January 1930. The volume units in use, as listed in the Chinese Name Plan for Unified Metric Units of Measurement, include the dàn, dǒu, shēng, and gě. The basic unit remains the shēng, now defined as exactly 1 litre.
To distinguish between different interpretations of the litre, the traditional Chinese shēng is also known as 市升, while the modern transliteration of litre is referred to as 公升.
| Pinyin | Character | Relative value | Metric value | US value | Imperial value | Notes |
| cuō | 撮 | 1 mL | 0.0338 fl oz | 0.0352 fl oz | millilitre | |
| sháo | 勺 | 10 mL | 0.3381 fl oz | 0.3520 fl oz | centilitre | |
| gě | 合 | 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 |
Today, similar to the litre, the shēng is most commonly used to measure liquids or gases.
Japan
In Japan, the base unit of volume is the shō, equivalent to the Chinese shēng. One shō is defined as 1.804 litres. Traditional beverages such as sake and shōchū are often sold in 1800 mL bottles known as isshōbin, literally "one shō bottle".Korea
In Korea, the traditional volume unit is the doi, equivalent to the Chinese shēng and the Japanese shō. In Korean, it is also referred to as seung.Sheng and litre
In China, the English unit litre is also referred to as sheng. When a distinction is necessary, the word litre is translated as 公升, while the traditional Chinese unit is referred to as 市升, as it has historically been more commonly used in commercial contexts.The different sheng units may also be distinguished by the regions in which they are used or defined, such as the Chinese sheng, Japanese shō, Korean seung, or British litre, among others.
In mainland China, one sheng is equal to one litre. As the two units are identical in size, both are commonly referred to as sheng in Chinese or litre in English, unless clarification is required.
Additionally, standard SI prefixes are applied to the character 升 to form other metric volume units. These include:
- 分升 – decilitre
- 厘升 – centilitre
- 毫升 – millilitre