Editing Chinese units of measurement (section)

==History==
[[File:Bronze ruler. Han Dynasty 206 BCE to CE 220. Excavated in Zichang County. Shaanxi History Museum, Xi'an.jpg|thumb|Bronze ruler from the Han dynasty (206 BCE to CE 220); excavated in [[Zichang County]]; [[Shaanxi History Museum]], [[Xi'an]]]]
{{History of science and technology in China}}
According to the ''[[Liji]]'', the legendary [[Yellow Emperor]] created the first measurement units. The ''[[Xiao Erya]]'' and the ''[[Kongzi Jiayu]]'' state that length units were derived from the human body. According to the ''[[Records of the Grand Historian]]'', these human body units caused inconsistency, and [[Yu the Great]], another legendary figure, unified the length measurements. [[Ruler]]s with decimal units have been unearthed from [[Shang dynasty]] tombs.

In the [[Zhou dynasty]], the king conferred nobles with powers of the state and the measurement units began to be inconsistent from state to state. After the [[Warring States period]], [[Qin Shi Huang]] unified China, and later standardized measurement units. In the [[Han dynasty]], these measurements were still being used, and were documented systematically in the [[Book of Han]].

Astronomical instruments show little change of the length of chi in the following centuries, since the calendar needed to be consistent. It was not until the introduction of decimal units in the [[Ming dynasty]] that the traditional system was revised.

===Republican Era===
{{see also|Taiwanese units of measurement}}
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 measurement based directly on the [[Qing dynasty]] definitions ({{lang|zh|营造尺库平制}}).<ref name="ROC1915">{{citation |contribution-url=http://gaz.ncl.edu.tw/eng/detail.jsp?sysid=D1500002 |contribution=權度法 [''Quándù Fǎ''] |title=''政府公報 [''Zhèngfǔ Gōngbào'', ''Government Gazette'']'' |location=Beijing |volume=957 |publisher=Office of the President |date=7 January 1915 |pages=85–94 }}{{Dead link|date=July 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}. {{in lang|zh}}</ref>

On 16 February 1929, the [[Nationalist government]] adopted and promulgated ''The Weights and Measures Act''<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://law.moj.gov.tw/Eng/LawClass/LawHistory.aspx?PCode=J0100052 |title=The Weights and Measures Act: Legislative History |publisher=[[Ministry of Justice (Republic of China)]]}}</ref> to adopt the [[metric system]] as the official standard and to limit the newer Chinese units of measurement ({{zh|c=市用制|p=shìyòngzhì|l=market-use system}}) to private sales and trade in Article 11, effective on 1 January 1930. These newer "market" units are based on rounded metric numbers.<ref name="ROC1930">{{Cite web|url=http://lis.ly.gov.tw/lghtml/lawstat/version2/01926/0192618020200.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140425025351/http://lis.ly.gov.tw/lghtml/lawstat/version2/01926/0192618020200.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=2014-04-25 |title=The Weights and Measures Act (1929) |publisher=[[Legislative Yuan]] }}</ref>

===People's Republic of China===
The [[Government of the People's Republic of China]] continued using the market system along with metric system, as decreed by the [[State Council of the People's Republic of China]] on 25 June 1959, but 1 [[catty]] being 500 grams, would become divided into 10 (new) [[tael]]s, instead of 16 (old) taels, to be converted from [[Administrative divisions of the People's Republic of China|province to province]], while exempting [[Chinese herbology|Chinese prescription drugs]] from the conversion to prevent errors.<ref name="PRC1959">{{in lang|zh}} [http://www.gov.cn/zwgk/2011-11/09/content_1988933.htm 1959 Gazette of the State Council of the People's Republic of China], [http://www.gov.cn/gongbao/shuju/1959/gwyb195916.pdf No. 180], pages 311 to 312</ref>

On 27 February 1984, the State Council of the People's Republic of China decreed the market system to remain acceptable until the end of 1990 and ordered the transition to the national legal measures by that time, but [[Agricultural land|farmland]] measures would be exempt from this mandatory [[metrication]] until further investigation and study.<ref name="PRC1984">[http://www.yfzs.gov.cn/gb/info/LawData/gjf2001q/gwyfg/2003-07/10/1425371513.html Decree of the State Council Concerning the Use of Uniform Legal Measures in the Country] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150409152907/http://www.yfzs.gov.cn/gb/info/LawData/gjf2001q/gwyfg/2003-07/10/1425371513.html |date=2015-04-09 }}</ref>

===Hong Kong===
{{main|Hong Kong units of measurement}}
In 1976 the [[Hong Kong]] [[Metrication Ordinance]] allowed a gradual replacement of the system in favor of the [[International System of Units]] (SI) metric system.<ref>Yearbook HK. "[http://www.yearbook.gov.hk/1997/ch7/e7s.htm Yearbook]." ''Metrication.'' Retrieved on 26 April 2007.</ref> The Weights and Measures Ordinance defines the metric, Imperial, and Chinese units.<ref name="HK">[https://www.elegislation.gov.hk/hk/cap68 Cap. 68 WEIGHTS AND MEASURES ORDINANCE]</ref> As of 2012, all three systems are legal for trade and are in widespread use.

===Macau===
On 24 August 1992, [[Macau]] published ''Law No. 14/92/M'' to order that Chinese units of measurement similar to those used in Hong Kong, [[Imperial units]], and [[United States customary units]] would be permissible for five years since the effective date of the Law, 1 January 1993, on the condition of indicating the corresponding SI values, then for three more years thereafter, Chinese, Imperial, and US units would be permissible as secondary to the SI.<ref name="MO">''Law No. 14/92/M'' ({{in lang|zh}} {{lang|zh|[http://bo.io.gov.mo/bo/i/92/34/lei14_cn.asp 第14/92/M號法律]}}; {{in lang|pt}} [http://bo.io.gov.mo/bo/i/92/34/lei14.asp Lei n.<sup>o</sup> 14/92/M])</ref>