Historical metrology

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Historical metrology is the science and study of the different units of measurement and measurement systems (including monetary units) which have been used by various countries and places throughout history.

Published reports

For some countries, principal divisions of executive governments have published reports that compile formerly used weights and measures. For example, this has been done for Bolivia, Great Britain, Costa Rica, Mexico, Portugal, Spain, Tanzania and the United States. In 1954, 1955, [1] and 1966, the United Nations compiled reports aimed at giving an overview of the non-metric units then in use in different parts of the world. [2] In 2018, the first of three volumes of the book "Encyclopaedia of Historical Metrology, Weights, and Measures" was published. The book addresses the myriad units of measurement that have arisen through the ages, from weights used by ancient cultures to the scientific units of the modern world. [3]

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Measurement</span> Process of assigning numbers to objects or events

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chinese units of measurement</span> Traditional system of measurement used by Han Chinese

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Traditional Japanese units of measurement or the shakkanhō is the traditional system of measurement used by the people of the Japanese archipelago. It is largely based on the Chinese system, which spread to Japan and the rest of the Sinosphere in antiquity. It has remained mostly unaltered since the adoption of the measures of the Tang dynasty in 701. Following the 1868 Meiji Restoration, Imperial Japan adopted the metric system and defined the traditional units in metric terms on the basis of a prototype metre and kilogram. The present values of most Korean and Taiwanese units of measurement derive from these values as well.

The pao is a unit of dry measure (mass) which is used in South Asia. The name may come from the Punjabi ਪਾਓ páo, which was a traditional charge of one quarter of a seer per every maund of grain that was weighed, converted into a tax by Sawan Mal. Turner also cites a Sindhi word pāu (پاءُ) meaning a quarter of a seer.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Candy (unit)</span>

The candy or candee, also known as the maunee, was a traditional South Asian unit of mass, equal to 20 maunds and roughly equivalent to 500 pounds avoirdupois (227 kilograms). It was most used in southern India, to the south of Akbar's empire, but has been recorded elsewhere in South Asia. In Marathi, the same word was also used for a unit of area of 120 bighas, and it is also recorded as a unit of dry volume.

Cavan, sometimes spelled Caban or Kaban) is Filipino unit of mass and also a unit of volume or dry measure.

The dharni is a still used ancient unit of mass, used in Nepal, of about 2+12 seer. It was divided into 2 bisauli (बिसौलि), 4 boṛi (बोड़ि), or 12 pāu (पाउ). The United Nations Statistical Office gave an approximate equivalence of 2.3325 kilograms in 1966.

Vietnamese units of measurement are the largely decimal units of measurement traditionally used in Vietnam until metrication. The base unit of length is the thước or xích. Some of the traditional unit names have been repurposed for metric units, such as thước for the metre, while other traditional names remain in translations of imperial units, such as dặm Anh for the English mile.

A number of units of measurement were used in Honduras for length, mass, volume etc. In Honduras, the metric system was adopted in 1910, and has been compulsory since 1912, under a joint convention between Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and El Salvador.

A number of units of measurement have been used in Cambodia to measure length, mass, volume, etc. The metric system has been compulsory there since 1914.

Korean units of measurement, called cheokgwan-beop or cheokgeun-beop in Korean, is the traditional system of measurement used by the people of the Korean peninsula. It is largely based on the Chinese system, with influence from Japanese standards imposed following its annexation of the Korean Empire in 1910. Both North and South Korea currently employ the metric system. Since 2007, South Korea has criminalized the use of Korean units in commercial contexts but informal use continues, especially of the pyeong as a measure of residential and commercial floorspace. North Korea continues to use the traditional units, although their standards are now derived from metric conversions.

References

  1. World Weights and Measures: Handbook for Statisticians, ST/STAT/SER. M/21, UN Publication No. 1955.XVII.2, New York: Statistical Office of the United Nations, 1955.
  2. United Nations, Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East. Glossary of commodity terms including currencies, weights and measures used in certain countries of Asia and the Far East. New York: United Nations. Department of Economic Affairs, 1954; United Nations. Statistical Office of the United Nations in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United World Weights and Measures. Handbook for Statisticians. New York, 1955. Provisional edition. Series: Statistical papers - United Nations. M, no. 21. (ST/STAT/SER.M/21 May 1955); United Nations. Department of Economic and Social Affairs. Statistical Office of the United Nations. World Weights and Measures. Handbook for Statisticians. Statistical Papers. New York. 1966. Series: M, no. 21 Revision 1. (ST/STAT/SER.M/21/rev.1).
  3. "Encyclopaedia of Historical Metrology, Weights, and Measures | SpringerLink".