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Jin (mass)

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Chinese Jin Mass Units

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The jin () or catty (from Malay language kati) is a traditional Chinese unit of mass used across East Asia and Southeast Asia, notably for weighing food and other groceries. Related units include the picul (dan or shi), equal to 100 catties, and the tael (liang), which is of a catty. The stone (also dan or shi) is a former unit used in Hong Kong equal to 120 catties, and a gwan () is 30 jin. The catty is still used in Southeast Asia as a unit of measurement in some contexts, especially by the significant Overseas Chinese populations across the region, particularly in Malaysia and Singapore.

The catty is traditionally equivalent to pound avoirdupois, formalised as 604.78982 (g) in Hong Kong, 604.5 g (historically) in Vietnam, 604.79 g in Malaysia and 604.8 g in Singapore. In Taiwan, Weights and Measures in Use in Taiwan from the Republic of China Yearbook – Taiwan 2001. Japan, Korea, and Thailand, the unit is rounded to 600 g. In China, the jin is rounded to 500 g and called the market jin (市斤; ), to distinguish it from the kilogram (called the common jin; 公斤; ), and is subdivided into 10 taels rather than 16.

History

In ancient China, the office of Sima () was in charge of military affairs. Because the management of military grain and fodder involved frequent weighing, mass units (such as jin and liang) were also called sima jin (), sima liang, and so on. The measuring tools used were called sima scales (). This is still true in Hong Kong. One sima jin is equal to sixteen sima liang, which is where the idiom "half a jin vs eight liang" comes from.

+ Jin size throughout Chinese history ! Dynasty !! Mass in grams
Pre-Qin (1995). 9787101012415, 中华书局 (Zhonghua Book Company). ISBN 9787101012415	250
Qin dynasty	253
Western Han	248
Eastern Han, Three Kingdoms, Jin	220
Northern and Southern dynasties
Sui dynasty	661 (large system), 220 (small system)
Tang dynasty	661
Song dynasty, Yuan dynasty	633
Ming dynasty, Qing dynasty	590

The mass of the jin varies between different eras and regions, but its ratio to contemporaneous units is generally unchanged: one jin is equal to sixteen liang, or 1/120 of a dan. Starting from the late Qing dynasty, the jin was also written in English as catty or kan based on the Malay language name for the unit.

Before the Qing dynasty, various regions and industries in China had their own weight standards for jin and liang. During the Qing, unified weights and measures were implemented. One late-Qing jin was 596.816 g according to the Beiyang government, and equal to 16 liang.

China

1915 measurement law

On 7 January 1915, the Beiyang government promulgated a measurement law to use the metric system as the standard but also a system based directly on Qing dynasty definitions (营造尺库平制), with the liang as the base unit.

+ Chinese mass units promulgated in 1915
háo	毫		3.7301 mg	0.0001316 oz
lí	釐		37.301 mg	0.001316 oz	cash
fēn	分		373.01 mg	0.01316 oz	candareen
qián	錢		3.7301 g	0.1316 oz	mace or Chinese dram
liǎng	兩	1	37.301 g	1.316 oz	tael or Chinese ounce
jīn	斤	16	596.816 g	1.316 lb	catty or Chinese pound

Mass units in the Republic of China (1930–1959)

On 16 February 1929, the Nationalist government adopted and promulgated The Weights and Measures Act to adopt the metric system and limit the updated Chinese units of measurement to private sales and trade, effective 1 January 1930. The updated market units are based on rounded metric numbers, and jin is the base unit.

+ Mass units in the Republic of China (1930–1959)
sī	絲		312.5 μg
háo	毫		3.125 mg
lí	市釐		31.25 mg		cash
fēn	市分		312.5 mg		candareen
qián	市錢		3.125 g	0.1102 oz	mace or Chinese dram
liǎng	市兩		31.25 g	1.102 oz	tael or Chinese ounce
jīn	市斤	1	500 g	1.102 lb	catty or Chinese pound
dàn	擔	100	50 kg	110.2 lb	picul or Chinese hundredweight

Mass units since 1959

On June 25, 1959, the State Council of the People's Republic of China issued the Order on the Unified Measurement System, retaining the market system, with the statement of "the market system originally stated that sixteen liang is equal to one jin. Due to the trouble of conversion, it should be changed to ten liang per jin."

+ Chinese mass units since 1959
lí	市厘		50 mg		cash
fēn	市分		500 mg		candareen
qián	市錢		5 g	0.1764 oz	mace or Chinese dram
liǎng	市兩		50 g	1.764 oz	tael or Chinese ounce
jīn	市斤	1	500 g	1.102 lb	catty or Chinese pound
dàn	市擔	100	50 kg	110.2 lb	picul or Chinese hundredweight

Legally, 1 jin equals 500 grams, and 10 liang equals 1 jin (that is, 1 liang is 50 g). The traditional Chinese medicine measurement system was unchanged.

Mass units in traditional Chinese medicine

Until 1979, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) generally kept the division of 16 liang to 1 (500-g) jin. In 1979, the State Council of China issued an order for the TCM trade to switch to metric units. The previously used qian was to be treated as exactly 3 g, with other units derived from the liang scaled accordingly. Mass units in ancient TCM prescriptions should be interpreted using the metric (gram) conversions appropriate for the era, not the modern versions of these units.

Taiwan

The jin, or kin, in Taiwan is called the Taiwan jin or taijin (). The taijin is equivalent to the Qing-era Chinese jin. In 1895 Taiwan was ceded to Japan, which implemented the metric system, but Taiwan continued to use the old weights and measures. Thus, after China stopped using the Qing system, it came to be known as the Taiwan system. 1 taijin is 600 grams, or 16 Taiwan liang, and 1 Taiwan liang is equal to 37.5 g.

+ Taiwanese units of mass !colspan=4	Relative value !colspan=2	Imperial units!! rowspan="2" >Notes
	37.5milligram	0.5787gr	Cash; same as Japanese rin
	375milligram	5.787gr	Candareen; same as Japanese fun
	3.75g	2.116avoirdupois dram	Mace; same as Japanese momme (匁)
1	37.5g	21.16avoirdupois dram	Tael
16	600g	1.323lb	Catty; same as Japanese kin
1600	60kilogram		132.3lb	Picul; same as Japanese tan

Hong Kong and Macau

Hong Kong and Macau mass units

According to the original Hong Kong law, Article 22 of 1884, one jīn is British pounds (that is, 3 jīn is equal to 4 pounds). Currently, Hong Kong law stipulates that one jīn is equal to one hundredth of a dan or sixteen liang, which is 0.604 789 82 kilograms (0.604 789 82 kg divided by is 0.453 592 65 kg, the 1878 definition of the British Avoirdupois pound).

+ Mass units in Hong Kong and Macau !Jyutping !Character !English !Portuguese !Relative value !Relation to next largest Chinese unit (Macau) !Metric value !Imperial value !Notes
lei4	厘	li, cash	liz		condorim
fan1	分	fen, candareen (fan)	condorim		maz		0.2133 dr
cin4	錢	qian, mace (tsin)	maz		tael		2.1333 dr
loeng2	兩	liang, leung, tael	tael		cate		1.3333 oz	604.78982 / 16 = 37.79936375
gan1	斤	jin, kan, catty	cate	1	pico	604.78982 g	1.3333 lb	Hong Kong and Macau share the definition
daam3	擔	dan, tam, picul	pico	100	None	60.478982 kg	133.3333 lb	Hong Kong and Macau share the definition

Hong Kong troy units

These are used for trading precious metals such as gold and silver, defined around the British troy weight system.

+ Hong Kong troy mass units Cap. 68 Weights and Measures Ordinance !English name !Chinese name !Relative value !Metric value !Imperial value !Notes
fen (candareen) troy	金衡分		374.29 mg	0.096 drt
qian (mace) troy	金衡錢		3.7429 g	0.96 drt
liang (tael) troy	金衡兩	1	37.429 g	1.2 ozt

Malaysia and Singapore

Malaysia has similar regulations as Hong Kong, as it was also a former British colony. The rounding is slightly different, a catty (or jin) is 0.604 79 kg. Similarly, Singapore law stipulates that one catty is also equal to 1 pounds, or 0.6048 kg.

Japan

+ Japanese units of mass Iwata, Shigeo. "Weights and Measures in Japan"* !colspan="2"

Unit !rowspan="2"

Kanji !colspan="2"

Metric !colspan="2"

US & Imperial units

Mō

毛 or 毫

3.75mg

8.267micropound

Rin

厘

37.5mg

0.5787gr

Fun

分

375mg

5.787gr

Momme
Monme

匁

3.75g

2.116avoirdupois dram

Hyakume

百目

375g

13.23oz

Kin

斤

600g

1.323lb

Kan(me)

貫(目]])

3.75kg

8.267lb

Maru

丸

30kg

66.14lb

Tan

担 or 擔

60kg

132.3lb

Notes:

Exact figures follow the 1891 Law of Weights & Measures and 1959 International Yard and Pound Agreement.
Metric values are exact. US and Imperial approximations are rounded to four significant figures.

In Japan, 1 jin, or kin in Japanese, is equal to 600 grams, but is rarely used. An exception is the jin used for slices of bread. According to the fair competition regulations of the Japanese Bread Fair Trade Council, a jin only needs to be more than 340 g.

Korea

The base unit of Korean mass is the gwan. At the time of Korea's metrication, however, the geun (or Korean pound) was in more common use. The gwan is usually considered equivalent to 600g. The nyang also sees some use among Korean traditional Chinese medicine vendors.

Ho	Ho		호(毫)
Mo	Mo		모(毛)
Ri	Ri		리(釐/厘)
Pun	P'un		푼
Bun	Pun		분(分)
Don	Ton		돈			Momme
Nyang	Nyang	Ryang James Huntley Grayson (2026). 9780700712410, Routledge. . ISBN 9780700712410 Yang	냥(兩)	Korean ounce		Tael
Geun	Kŭn	Keun Kon	근(斤)	Korean pound	(meat), (other)	Jin, catty	' (meat), ' (other)
Gwan	Kwan		관(貫)		1

Vietnam

In Vietnam, the jin is called the cân ta (), and is equal to 604.6 grams. The following table lists common units of mass in Vietnam in the early 20th century:

+ Early 20th-century Vietnamese units of mass

10 tạ

obsolete

10 yến

obsolete

10 cân

10 lạng

Notes:

The cân ('scale') is also called cân ta ('our scale') to distinguish it from the kilogram ( cân tây, 'Western world scale').

Jin, pound and kilogram

The jin, pound and kilogram are all currently used in China. Their meanings and conversions in China are as follows:

Chinese Academy of Social Sciences Language Institute (2026). 9787100124508, Commercial Press. ISBN 9787100124508

(Chinese jin; lit. 'market jin'): Or simply called jin, also called Chinese pound. In the market system (市制) in use since 1930, 1 jin equals 500 g, equivalent to 1.1023 pounds.
(kilogram, lit. 'common jin'): A metric unit, equivalent to 1000 g.
(pound): A British Imperial unit, about 453.6 g.