Why was one pound 16 two in ancient times? Come and get the "Weights and Measures" knowledge point!

N Haidu all-media reporter Luo Danling Bao Huawen/photo

The most beautiful April day on earth is a good time to read. What extracurricular readings would you like to prepare for your child?

On April 24, Haidu reporter learned that with the 27th World Book Day just past, the "Weights and Measures in Ancient Poems in Primary and Secondary Schools" planned by the Fujian Metrology and Testing Society and written by Qiu Xifeng of the Fujian Provincial Metrology Institute was officially published. As a construction project of the Fujian Provincial Association for Science and Technology to serve the "three innovations" excellent society, this extracurricular reading for primary and secondary school students took one year to complete, extracted the words used as a unit of measurement and measurement from the ancient poems of the current primary and secondary school language textbooks compiled by the state, and appropriately supplemented the unit words that did not appear in the textbook but were also very important in ancient times, and analyzed the corresponding ancient and modern magic links, and helped young people understand the long-standing weights and measures culture of the mainland with concise and colloquial texts. It is understood that this is the first weights and measures reading material on the mainland based on primary and secondary school language textbooks.

Qiu Xifeng used his spare time to write this popular science book for primary and secondary school students

The Sixteen-Two System was abolished due to conversion troubles

Haidu reporter checked the catalog and found that the book introduced a total of 68 unit words, divided into three series of "degree", "quantity" and "balance", each series contains corresponding unit words. The introduction of each unit word is divided into three parts: interpretation, example and further reading.

Looking closely, the book mentions a lot of interesting stories about unit words, supplemented by vivid comic illustrations to increase the sense of reading experience. For example, the book introduces the origin of the idiom "half a pound and eight twos": "The Book of Han and the Chronicle of the Laws say: 'The power of the people, baht, two, jin, jun, shi also, so called things pingshi, know the weight also ... Sixteen two pounds'. The weight units of the above 5 weighing objects clearly state that 1 pound is equal to 16 two. It can be seen that half a pound is equal to 8 two. ”

So, why did the ancients set 16 two as a pound? When was the Sixteenth and Two Systems abolished? According to the textbook, the sixteen two scales, also known as the sixteen gold star scales, are composed of the seven stars of the Big Dipper, the six stars of the South Dipper plus the lucky star, the Lu star, and the birthday star, which is intended to warn people who do business to be honest and trustworthy, not to deceive and not to hide. Otherwise, one or two short is not blessed, two or two are less Lu, and three or two are missing.

The sixteenth two systems were used until 1959, when, in order to promote the use of the international metric system throughout the country, the State Council issued the "Order on unifying the continental measurement system", which stated that "the municipal system was originally set at sixteen and two for one kilogram, and because of the conversion trouble, it should be changed to ten two for one kilogram." At this point, the sixteen-two system, which has been used for more than two thousand years, has withdrawn from the stage of history.

The introduction of "Zhang" is equally interesting. The name "ten feet also" is to hold a stick in your hand, which is a meaning word. In the Eastern Han Dynasty classicist and philologist Xu Shen's "Commentary on the Interpretation of Texts", it is mentioned: "The Zhou system is eight inches for the ruler, and ten feet is the zhang." A man is eight feet long, so he is a husband. "It can be seen from here that the weekly system is 1 foot from 8 inches, 10 feet as 1 zhang, and 1 zhang at that time as 80 inches. Xu Shen also pointed out the origin of the term "husband", because "ten feet is a zhang, a person is eight feet long", and 8 feet is close to 1 zhang, so it is called "husband".

I hope that this book will trigger children's love for traditional culture

Why did you want to write such a book? Teacher Qiu Xifeng said that as one of the ancient civilizations in the world, the mainland weights and measures culture has a long history. Due to the washing of history, many units of measurement have been annihilated and abolished. Some units of measurement may also be different in different dynasties on the continent. All of this is difficult to understand without professional books, and if you do not pay attention to the unpopular discipline of metrology, you will not be exposed.

"So far, there has not been a monograph in the book market that carries out quantitative science popularization from the actual content of primary and secondary school language textbooks. In order to facilitate the majority of primary and secondary school students to understand the knowledge of ancient weights and measures units on the mainland, I had the idea of publishing a book. Teacher Qiu Xifeng said.

Teacher Qiu Xifeng also said that although the book is only a small index of weights and measures knowledge, it is hoped that the majority of primary and secondary school students can take advantage of the brilliant charm of the mainland's traditional weights and measures culture to enhance their reverence and inheritance of the motherland's profound traditional culture. If a student falls in love with metrology, or even engages in scientific and technological research, it will exceed his good expectations.

□ know a little more: the ancients measured hands and feet and used them together

According to the book, "weights and measures" is the basic criterion for weighing everything in the world. The ancients used themselves (such as hands, feet, and movements) as "references" to the primitive "weights and measures" to "look" at the world. In the "Sayings of Confucius", it is said that the cloth hand knows the ruler, the cloth finger knows the inch, the shu elbow knows the search, and the Si is not far away. At that time, in order to weigh things, people had already used their hands, fingers, elbows, feet, etc.

The direct use of the terms "degree", "quantity" and "balance" also has a very long history on the mainland. For example, in the "Great Dai Li Ji • Five Emperors", it is said that the Yellow Emperor "governs the five qi, sets five quantities, caresses the people, and degrees of the four sides". In the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220), the historian Ban Gu officially calibrated and strengthened the names of "degree", "quantity" and "balance" in the official revision history.

However, as people's understanding of everything in the world reaches new heights, traditional "weights and measures" are iterated by modern measurement systems. In 1875, 17 countries, including France, Germany, Italy and the United States, signed the "Metric Convention" in Paris, laying the foundation for the internationally accepted unit of measurement system based on the "metric system". In 1960, the 11th International Conference on Weights and Measures adopted the "International System of Units" and recommended it for all countries, which was a complete subversion of the traditional "weights and measures".

The resolution to revise the International System of Units adopted at the 26th International Congress of Weights and Measures held in November 2018 marks that the International System of Units will enter the era of full quantization.

Editor: Chen Chen