I remember that I posted a single chapter on weights and measures, and I don't know where I lost it.

Yesterday, a reader asked: Isn't Han 1 stone 30kg? 2 stone of grain per person per month, that is, 60kg, 2kg per person per day? Isn't that right?

Here I will tell you about the weights and measures of the Qin and Han dynasties, and indicate their source - learning knowledge, you can't always know what it is, and you don't know why it is~

The first is the unit of length.

According to the cultural relics unearthed in the Qin and Han dynasties, mainly the rulers found in the Qin tombs in Hugaoguan and the Han tombs in Zhangjiashan, it can be obtained: Qin and Han 1 inch ≈ 2.32cm.

Then according to 1 foot = 10 inches, 1 zhang = 10 feet, 1 li = 180 zhang: 1 foot = 23.2cm, 1 zhang = 2.32m, 1 li = 417.6m.

1 hectare = 100 acres, one acre = 240 "square steps" - 6 feet = 1 step, 1 step wide, 240 steps long = 1 mu.

Units of weight.

Qin and Han 1 catty = 16 taels, 1 tael = 24 baht, from the historical materials "length, width, height of one inch of gold, its weight of one catty" records, and then with the density of gold 19.32g/cm3 calculated, Qin and Han pounds ≈ 250g.

Volumetric Units:

According to the unearthed Qin and Han containers, it was measured: 1 liter = 200ml.

10 liters = 1 bucket, 10 buckets = 1 bucket, and 64 buckets = 1 bell.

It should be mentioned that 'stone', like 'hu', is a unit of volume, not a unit of weight.

In many search engines, including literature, it has been found that '1 stone = 120 catties', but as a unit of capacity, it is impossible for stone to have a constant weight.

Just like the fist-sized cotton and the fist-sized iron, according to the Qin and Han dynasties, they may both be '1 liter', but their weights are absolutely impossible to be equal, because the variable "density" also needs to be taken into account.

According to the information consulted by many parties, and through the borrowing and deduction of the "Han Que" written by the ancestor Qiyue Xinfan, the most convincing standard was obtained: 1 stone of the Qin and Han dynasties, and 13.5kg of corn.

This is not a blind guess, but through 1 liter = 200 ml, 10 liters = 1 bucket, 10 buckets = 1 d, 1 dan = 1 stone: 1 stone is about 20,000ml, that is, 20l.

According to the density coefficient of about 0.68 of corn, it is calculated that 1 stone of grain and rice = about 13.5kg.

This data is also supported by the literature - some researchers have tried to weigh corn with a volume of 20 liters, and it weighs about 13.55 kg.

And according to the calculation of 1 stone = 20l, 1 stone of water is only 20kg, which is equivalent to 80 catties of Han Jin, and 1 stone of grain is heavier than 1 stone of water, which is obviously unreasonable.

As for the origin of the statement '1 stone = 120 catties', that is, 1 stone = 30kg, it has not yet been investigated, but it should be a certain material with a density of about 1.5 to meet the situation that 1 stone = 120 catties.

According to the Baidu Encyclopedia density table, the density is found to be in line with 1.5, and the substances that exist and are common in the Qin and Han dynasties are:

Gravel 1.32~2.0

Coarse sand (dry) 1.4~1.95

Fine sand (dry) 1.4~1.65

Therefore, 1 stone = 120 catties, there is a high probability that it is one of the above three substances, and there is a high probability that it is fine sand.

Remember~

Stone is a unit of volume~

Not a unit of weight~

1 stone of grain and rice, not obtained by weighing, but with 'bucket' as a measuring tool, 1 bucket 1 bucket, enough for 10 buckets for 1 stone ~

It is precisely for this reason that in ancient times, there would always be a saying of 'big bucket in, small bucket out' - in the feudal era, in the agrarian society, the vast majority of the people's 'usury' was actually not borrowing money, but borrowing grain~

In this way, the food consumption of 2 stone per person per month, that is, 27kg per month, is less than 1kg per day on average, which is definitely not the amount of food for the 'big stomach'~

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