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 (50 grams) in mainland China, 37.5 grams in Taiwan, Korea and Thailand,Weights and Measures in Use in Taiwan from the Republic of China Yearbook – Taiwan 2001. 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., No. 180 , pages 311 to 312

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 ().

+ Table of Chinese mass units promulgated in 1915PinyinCharacterRelative valueMetric valueImperial valueNotesháo3.7301 mg0.0001316 ozlí37.301 mg0.001316 ozcashfēn373.01 mg0.01316 ozcandareenqián3.7301 g0.1316 ozmace or Chinese dramliǎng137.301 g1.316 oztael or Chinese ouncejīn16596.816 g1.316 lbcatty 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. + Table of mass units in the Republic of China since 1930PinyinCharacterRelative valueMetric valueImperial valueNotessī312.5 μgháo3.125 mglí31.25 mgcashfēn312.5 mgcandareenqián3.125 g0.1102 ozmace or Chinese dramliǎng31.25 g1.102 oztael or Chinese ouncejīn1500 g1.102 lbcatty or Chinese pounddàn10050 kg110.2 lbpicul 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." + Table of mass units in the People's Republic of China since 1959PinyinCharacter 1959 Gazette of the State Council of the People's Republic of China , No. 180 , page 316Relative valueMetric valueImperial valueNoteslí50 mgcashfēn500 mgcandareenqián5 g0.1764 ozmace or Chinese dramliǎng50 g1.764 oztael or Chinese ouncejīn1500 g1.102 lbcatty or Chinese pound formerly 16 liang = 1 jindàn10050 kg110.2 lbpicul or Chinese hundredweight

Legally, 1 jin equals 500 grams, and 10 liangs equal 1 jin (that is, 1 liang equals 50 grams). 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.

+ Table of units of mass in TaiwanUnitRelative value Metric US & ImperialNotesTaiwanese HokkienHakkaMandarinCharacterLegalDecimalExactApprox. Lî Lî Lí   kg 37.5mg lb 0.5787grCash; Same as Japanese Rin Hun Fûn Fēn   kg 375mg lb 5.787grCandareen; Same as Japanese Fun Chîⁿ Chhièn Qián   kg 3.75g lb 2.116drMace; Same as Japanese Momme () Niú Liông Liǎng 1  kg 37.5g lb 21.16drTael Kin/Kun Kîn Jīn 16  kg 600g lb 1.323lbCatty; Same as Japanese Kin Tàⁿ Tâm Dàn 1600  60kg lb 132.3lbPicul; Same as Japanese Tan

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.

+ Table of Chinese mass units in Hong Kong and MacauLaw No. 14/92/M ( ; Lei n.o 14/92/M )JyutpingCharacterEnglishPortugueseRelative valueRelation to the Traditional Chinese Units (Macau)Metric valueImperial valueNotes lei4 li (cash) liz condorim fan1 fen (fan, candareen) condorim maz 0.2133 dr cin4 qian (tsin, mace) maz tael 2.1333 dr loeng2 liang (leung, tael) tael cate 1.3333 oz 604.78982/16=37.79936375 gan1 jin (gan, catty) cate 1 pico 604.78982 g 1.3333 lb Hong Kong and Macau share the definition. daam3 dan (tam, picul) pico 100None 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.

+ Table of mass (Hong Kong troy) unitsEnglishCharacterRelative valueMetric valueImperial valueNotes fen (candareen) troy 374.29 mg 0.096 drt qian (mace) troy 3.7429 g 0.96 drt liang (tael) troy 1 37.429 g 1.2 ozt

Korea The base unit of Korean weight is the gwan.* One liang (兩, Korean ounce) is 1/100 of a gwan, or 37.5 g (1.32 oz).

+ Table of mass units in KoreaRomanizationKoreanEnglishEquivalentsRRMROtherGwanOther countriesGlobalHoHo()MoMo()RiRi(/)liPunP'unfenBunPun()DonTonMommeNyangNyangRyang Yang.()liang (Korean ounce)TaelGeunKŭnKeun Kon()jin (Korean pound) (meat), (others)Jin, Catty (meat), (others)GwanKwan()1

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 (called , , or ) 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.

+ Early 20th-century units of weight 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 (jin) 斤 604.5 g 16 lạng 1 kg 10 lạng nén 378 g 10 lạng lạng (liang) 兩 37.8 g 10 đồng 100 g đồng or tiền (qian) 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 (mass).

Compounds wikt:幾斤幾兩 (jǐjīnjǐliǎng) wikt:半斤八兩 (bànjīnbāliǎng) wikt:缺斤少兩 (quējīnshǎoliǎng) wikt:銀兩 (yínliǎng)

Name of Tael

The English word tael comes through Portuguese from the Malay word , meaning "weight". Early English forms of the name such as "tay" or "taes" derive from the Portuguese plural of tael, . Tahil ( in Singaporean English)"Tahil" entry at A Dictionary of Singlish and Singapore English. is used in Malay and English today when referring to the weight in Malaysia, Singapore, and Brunei, where it is still used in some contexts especially related to the significant Overseas Chinese population.

See also Liang (currency) Chinese units of measurement Hong Kong units of measurement Taiwanese units of measurement Korean units of measurement Vietnamese units of measurement

Notes

References

External links 中國度量衡#衡 (in Chinese) 市制 (in Chinese) 兩 (in Chinese)