Taiwanese units of measurement

Taiwanese units of measurement (Chinese: 臺制; pinyin: Táizhì; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Tâi-chè) are the customary and traditional units of measure used in Taiwan. Many of the units derive from Japanese units of measurement and have similar names as Chinese units of measurement but different conversions than in mainland China or Hong Kong. In some cases these units are used exclusively, in some cases alongside official metric (SI) units, and in other cases they have been supplanted by metric units. Linguistically, practically all Taiwanese units of measure are Chinese classifiers used to classify nouns.

Length

Linear measure in Taiwan is largely metric but some units derived from traditional Japanese units of measurement remain in use as a legacy of Japanese rule.

UnitDefinitionBasis
1 Taiwanese inch (寸; cùn; chhùn)3.030 cmJapanese sun
1 Taiwanese foot (尺; chǐ; chhioh)30.30 cmJapanese shaku

Area

An advertisement from IKEA for a 10-ping apartment

Unlike with other measures, area continues to be almost commonly measured with traditional units. The principal unit for measuring the floorspace of an office or apartment, the ping (坪; píng; pêⁿ / pîⁿ / phêⁿ / phîⁿ / phiâⁿ / phêng) derives from the Japanese tsubo, the base unit of the Japanese area. Taiwanese units of land measurement derive from both traditional Dutch and Japanese measurements. The principal unit of land measure, the jia (甲; jiǎ; kah), derives from the obsolete Dutch morgen, which was introduced during Taiwan's Dutch era. The li (犁; lí; lê) represented the area that could be farmed by one man with one ox and one plow in one day.

  • 1 ping = 36 square chi = 3.306 m2 (35.59 sq ft)
  • 1 mu (畝; mǔ; bó͘) = 30 ping = 99.2 m2 (1,068 sq ft)
  • 1 jia = 2,934 ping = 0.9699 hectares (2.397 acres)[1]
  • 1 li = 5 jia = 4.8496 hectares (11.984 acres)

Officially, land area is measured in hectares and square kilometers.[2]

Volume

Volume measure in Taiwan is largely metric, with common units such as liter and milliliter.

Mass

Fruit sold in catties in a Taiwanese market

Packaged goods in Taiwan largely use metric measurements but bulk foodstuffs sold in wet markets and supermarkets are typically measured with units derived from traditional Japanese units of mass, which are similar but not equivalent to corresponding Chinese units of mass.

  • 1 cash (釐; lí; lî) = 37.5 mg
  • 1 candareen (分; fēn; hun) = 10 cash = 375 mg
  • 1 mace (錢; qián; chîⁿ) = 10 candareens = 3.75 g
  • 1 tael (兩; liǎng; niú) = 10 mace = 37.5 g
  • 1 catty (斤; jīn; kin/kun) = 16 taels = 0.6 kg
  • 1 picul (擔; dān; tàⁿ) = 100 catties = 60 kg

Note the tael and catty are widely used.

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ MOE (2011), #1857.
  2. ↑ 《中華民國統計資訊網》縣市重要統計指標查詢系統網 (in Chinese). Retrieved 25 July 2016.

References

  • 臺灣閩南語常用詞辭典 [Dictionary of Frequently-Used Taiwan Minnan] (in Chinese). Ministry of Education, R.O.C. 2011. Retrieved January 25, 2015.
  • Andrade, Tonio (2005). "Appendix A: Weights, Measures, and Exchange Rates". How Taiwan Became Chinese: Dutch, Spanish, and Han Colonization in the Seventeenth Century. Columbia University Press.
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