Study Of Ancient Weights And Measures

Weights & Measures is the normative instrument which measures the size, capacity, weights and even value of objects. The system of Chinese ancient Weights & Measures is very significant to regulate exchanging of commodities, maintain stability of society and guarantee power of the country, so it is the important content of research on ancient political system of China, archaeology and cultural history.From the origin to maturity and perfection, the system of Chinese ancient Weights & Measures underwent a long evolution process, which had tightly connected all along with the evolution of Chinese ancient regime.The system of Weights & Measures germinated in the later period of Late Neolithic Age, which is the result of long-term accumulation of people numeral knowledge, continual increase on social fortune, gradual disintegration among social classis, emergence of the private system, and gradual complication on social distributing action. The earliest capacity vessels were unearthed at Dadiwan site.Along with the formation to prosperity of slavery in the Xia, Shang and Western Zhou Dynasties, the system of Weights & Measures gradually maturated with the emergence of various national political systems. At that time, various units of Weights & Measures continuously emerged, but the system of units had not come into being. The length units of Chi, Cun, Fen, Kui, Bu, and Li had probably emerged in Xia Dynasty, Xun emerged in Shang Dynasty and the special length units of Ban, Du, and Zhi emerged in Western Zhou Dynasty. The units for land measuring of Jing, Cheng, Tong, and Dian emerged in Xia Dynasty, Tian emerged in Shang Dynasty and the unit system of Mu, Tian and Li had emerged in Western Zhou Dynasty. The capacity unit of Dan (Hu) probably emerged in Xia Dynasty, and Zi, Bing, Cang, Xiang, Sheng, Gu, Yi and Ju all emerged in Western Zhou Dynasty. The weight unit Jun probably emerged in Xia Dynasty and Lv emerged in Shang Dynasty. In Western Zhou Dynasty, the weight units of Jin, Yun (Jun), Yuan had emerged, and the system of Jin and Jun had come into being.In the Spring & Autumn and Warring States Period, feudalization was gradually growing up while slavery graduating away. The system of checkup and emendation maturated in the later period of Warring States, which indicated that the system of Weights & Measures had been completely matured. Systems of Weights & Measures with obvious regional characters were founded in the different states of dukes, whereas units of length, capacity and weight were inclined to unify among different states. The length units of Chi, Cun, and Fen, the capacity units of Hu, Dou, and Sheng, and the weight units of Zhu, Liang, Jin (Yi), Jun, and Dan had been widely used in some states, and the systems of units were gradually forming at that time. The balance with two different length arms had also emerged, which was the predecessor of steelyard aftertime. By contrasting the two bronze Vessels Mou of the Qin State with inscription handed down and unearthed, we can clearly know the food supplying quantity for State Qin's soldiers and criminals in the later period of Warring States.The First Emperor of Qin Dynasty unified the systems of all states of dukes, which had brought a profound effect on Chinese history.With the feudalization gradually perfected in the Han Dynasty, the system of Weights & Measures also ultimately perfected. By imitating the pipe of Huangzhong Swing, the ranging crop Shu and the four seasons, a set of unit system with reasonable carry relation had been founded. The units systems of Five Length Units (Fen, Cun, Chi, Zhang and Yin), Five Capacity Units (Yue, Ge, Sheng, Dou and Hu) and Five Weight Units (Zhu, Liang, Jin, Jun and Dan) had been entirely matured at that time, which affected the later China for almost 2000 years. Steelyard, a new-style weighing instrument had been used in Eastern Han Dynasty. According to the record in Swing and Calendar ? The Book about Han Dynasty, Chinese ancestors can decided the unitage of Weights & Measures using the ranging crop Shu and the pipe of Swing Huangzhong. By having a practical measuring on the record, we think it is credible because it has a profound science and thinking meaning.From the origin to development, maturation and evolution, the system of checkup and emendation of Chinese ancient Weights & Measures also underwent a long process. The system was founded in the Western Zhou Dynasty and the Spring & Autumn Period. The full-time officials were sent to supervise matters concerned weights & measures, and they supervised and examined instruments centralizedly. The system of checkup and emendation of Chinese ancient Weights & Measures gradually matured in the Warring States Period. In the early and middle period, states of dukes casted a piece of normative instruments that were used to check and emendate the Weights & Measures instruments, which indicated that the system of checkup and emendation had been developed. In the later period of Warring States, the special officials were assigned to check and emendate the instruments of Weights & Measures in the spring and autumn, and incised the result on the surface of instruments, which indicated that the system had ultimately matured. The severe system of checkup and emendation of the State Qin of Warring States was continued in the Qin Dynasty, which was the continued phase of the system of checkup and emendation. The Han Dynasty is the popularized phase of the system of checkup and emendation. On the one hand, the officials checked and emendated the instruments of Weights & Measures using the normative instrument; on the other hand, they also checked and emendated the instruments of Weights & Measures in the special time. The system of checkup and emendation had been popularized.The theory of Chinese ancient Weights & Measures gradually germinated, formed and matured, in which the conception of Syncretism of Heaven and Human was also gradually embodied. The theory of Chinese Weights & Measures germinated in the later period of Spring & Autumn, formed in the middle period of Western Han Dynasty, and ultimately matured in the early period of Eastern Han Dynasty, which were respectively embodied in The Second Half of The Story About Zhou Dynasty Guoyu, Huainanzi, and Swing and Calendar The Book about Han Dynasty. The conception of Syncretism of Heaven and Human in philosophy of Zhouyi guided development of the theory of Weights & Measures. The conception was gradually embodied with development of the theory of Weights & Measures, which is the guiding thinking leading Chinese culture to develop continuablely.The system of Chinese ancient Weights & Measures is a bright oriental characteristic. Most of the unit's criterion of Weights & Measures all around the ancient world originated from human body, natural object, and artifact. The origin of occidental Weights & Measures related with trade and commerce, while the origin and development of Chinese Weights & Measures tightly connected with the evolution of political system and social economy, which was the result that the conception of Syncretism of Heaven and Human in philosophy of Zhouyi profoundly influenced on Chinese ancient culture. The system of Chinese ancient Weights & Measures is the important component part of Chinese traditional culture.