The picul [ Throughout most of Chinese history, it was defined as equivalent to 120 catty. Some later definitions (British Hong Kong, Chinese market-use system) define it as 100 catties. It is most commonly used in southern China and Maritime Southeast Asia.
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History
The unit originated in China during the Qin dynasty (221–206 BC), where it was known as the shi (石 "stone"). During the Han dynasty, one stone was equal to 120 catty. Government officials were paid in grain, counted in stones, with top ranked ministers being paid 2000 stones.[ 《漢書》 百官公卿表]
As a unit of measurement, the word shi (石) can also be pronounced dan. To avoid confusion, the character is sometimes changed to 擔 ( dàn), meaning "burden" or "load". Likewise, in Cantonese the word is pronounced sek (石) or daam (擔), and in Hakka Chinese it is pronounced tam (擔).
The word picul appeared as early as the mid 9th century in Javanese. In modern Malay language, pikul is also a verb meaning 'to carry on the shoulder'.
In the early days of Hong Kong as a British colony, the stone (石, with a Cantonese pronunciation given as shik) was used as a measurement of weight equal to 120 catties or , alongside the picul of 100 catties.[ Weights and Measures Ordinance, 1885, Historical Laws of Hong Kong Online.]
Following Spain, Portugal, United Kingdom and most especially the Netherlands colonial maritime trade, the term picul was both a convenient unit, and a lingua franca unit that was widely understood and employed by other Austronesians (in modern Malaysia and the Philippines) and their centuries-old trading relations with , China and . It remained a convenient reference unit for many commercial trade journals in the 19th century. One example is Hunts Merchant Magazine of 1859 giving detailed tables of expected prices of various commodities, such as coffee, e.g. one picul of Javanese coffee could be expected to be bought from 8 to 8.50 Spanish dollars in Batavia and Singapore.[Freeman Hunt, Thomas Prentice Kettell, William Buck Dana. Hunt's merchants' magazine and commercial review, Volume 41.Freeman Hunt, 1859 Google PDF download: [3]]
Definitions
As for any traditional measurement unit, the exact definition of the picul varied historically and regionally.
In imperial China and later, the unit shi/dan (picul) was used for a measure equivalent to 120 catty.[三十斤为钧, 四钧为石。——《汉书·律历志上》; 重不过石。——《国语·周语》。注:“百二十斤也。”] This conversion was kept until the 1930 Chinese unit reform, which defined a market-catty of exactly 0.5 kilograms and a market-picul of exactly 50 kilograms. See Chinese units of measurement#Mass units in the Republic of China since 1930.
In 1831, the Dutch East Indies authorities acknowledged local variances in the definition of the pikul.[Abdul Rasyid Asba. Kopra Makassar: perebutan pusat dan daerah : kajian sejarah ekonomi politik regional di Indonesia. Yayasan Obor Indonesia, 2007. . 318 pages quoting Algemen Verslag Resdientie Banoemas 1831: ANRIJ and ANRIJ Makassar 291/18: Chinne Verslag van de Havenmeester]
In Hong Kong, one picul was defined in Ordinance No. 22 of 1844 as avoirdupois pounds, exactly 100 catties.[ Weights and Measures – Ordinance No. 22 of 1844, Historical Laws of Hong Kong Online.] The modern definition is exactly 60.478982 .
The measure was and remains used on occasion in Taiwan where it is defined as 60 kg.[ Weights and Measures in Use in Taiwan from the ''Republic of China Yearbook--Taiwan 2001.] The last, a measure of rice, was 20 picul, or 1,200 kg.
See also
