China may have developed systems of weights and mea-
sures around the same time as the Indus Valley civilizations.
According to Chinese tradition, the Yellow Emperor (ca.
2697–ca. 2598 b.c.e.) was the fi rst ruler to issue guidelines
for weights and measures, but little is known about this sys-
tem. Th e fi rst well-known offi cial units of Chinese weights
and measures were invented and standardized between the
13th^ and 10th centuries b.c.e.; these units became the basis
for measurement in China for the next three millennia. Th e
actual lengths and weights that went with the standardized
measurements varied over the centuries. Governments would
occasionally step in and defi ne units; for example, during the
Qin Dynasty (221–207 b.c.e.) the Chinese government stan-
dardized weights and measures.
Th e basic Chinese unit of length was the chi, which is
about 9 or 10 inches long and served as an equivalent to the
English foot. It was determined by the distance between the
thumb and middle fi nger of an outstretched hand. One cun
was equivalent to about an inch. Ten chi made up one zhang.
One li was equivalent to about ⅓ mile. Long distances were
generally expressed in li. One important measure was the
length of one bolt of cloth, or one pi, which was about 40 feet
long; most households had to pay some of their taxes in cloth,
which was measured in pi. Th e most common unit of land
area was the mu, equivalent to about 733 square yards. One
qing was 100 mu.
Th e standard units of weight in China were the qian and
the liang. Th e liang was a small amount, ½ ounce in the an-
cient period. Th e qian weighed between 7.7 and 9.2 ounces.
Th ese weights were based on the actual weight of coins used as
cash; the minting of coins was not done according to a uniform
weight standard, so weights fl uctuated. Th e Chinese people did
not use coins as currency very much, preferring to keep their
gold as valuable property. Weights were more important in
trade, for buying and selling specifi ed amounts of goods. Chi-
nese medicine, like ayurvedic medicine in India, required pre-
cise measurements of herbs and other medicinal items.
During the centuries between about 500 b.c.e. and the
fi ft h century c.e., the Chinese system of measurement gradu-
ally spread through Southeast Asia, Korea, and Japan. Th e
people of these nations adapted the Chinese measurements
into their own languages. For example, in Japan the main
unit of length was 1 shaku, equivalent to the Chinese chi. It
was broken into 10 sun and 100 bu. Six shaku made up 1 ken,
slightly less than 6 feet. Th ree hundred sixty shaku equaled
1 cho; 36 cho made up 1 ri, which was about 2.6 miles. Th e
most common measurement of land area was the tan, which
was about ¼ acre.EUROPE
BY MICHAEL J. O’NEAL
Systems of weights and measures throughout the ancient
world were highly complex, and historians have been able to
decipher t hem on ly in pa r t. In ma ny cases t hey have to rely onarchaeological evidence; for example, they can make infer-
ences about systems of weights and measures from regulari-
ties they fi nd in the measurements of surviving buildings or
the volumes of containers. An essential requirement for any
system of weights and measures is the ability for a community
or a society to come to common agreement about their values.
At the boundaries between systems of weights and measures,
some understanding must be established about how these
values will be converted from one system to another.
Understanding systems of weights and measures before
the advent of writing is nearly impossible. Th e Scottish engi-
neer Alexander Th om (1894–1985) claimed the existence of
a “megalithic yard” of about 2.72 feet that served as a unit of
measurement in laying out monuments such as Stonehenge,
although this is impossible to document conclusively and
also does not seem to be supported by evidence outside Brit-
ain. With the emergence of metallurgy, prehistoric European
people appear to have developed some common understand-
ing about units of weight. For example, copper and tin ingots
of standard sizes are oft en found in Bronze Age shipwrecks
in the Mediterranean Sea. In northern Europe bronze and
gold artifacts such as axes and neck rings may have served
as standard units of exchange, a sort of primitive currency.
Although it is likely that there were rules for measuring and
weighing commodities, we simply cannot do more than spec-
ulate about their nature.
Some ancient civilizations, including the Greeks, Ro-
mans, Egyptians, and Mesopotamians, were able to develop
fairly regular, stable systems of measurement largely because
they ruled over extensive empires. Because so many people
from diverse areas were under their control, particularly in
the extensive Roman Empire, they adhered to standards of
weights and measures imposed on them from a central au-
thority, usually by royal decree. Because of the importance
of trade to these empires, both between countries within the
empire and between the empire and other regions, merchants
and public offi cials needed accurate ways of measuring vol-
umes of goods and determining their price. Th ey also needed
accurate ways to measure the weight of gold and silver coins
minted by other nations and used to pay for goods.
While the Romans were expanding their empire in west-
ern Europe, northern and eastern Europe were peopled by
largely autonomous extended tribes: the Scandinavians, an
assortment of Germanic tribes, the Celts, various Slavic peo-
ples, and others. Without a central authority, each of these
communities developed its own standards for weights and
measures, and these standards oft en changed gradually over
time. In time the Romans, who adopted many features of the
Greek system, imposed their system of weights and measure
on portions of Europe, particularly Italy, Gaul (France), and
the British Isles. Many of these standards survived and were
imported eventually to the New World, where such measure-
ments as the inch and foot continue to be used. In other re-
spects the standards shift ed and have presented a challenge
to historians.weights and measures: Europe 11770895-1194_Soc&Culturev4(s-z).i1177 1177 10/10/07 2:31:21 PM