liang
tael; Chinese 'ounce' (1/10 jin on the mainland since 1959, 1/16 jin in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Japan)
Definition#
A traditional unit of weight, one tenth of a mainland jin or one sixteenth of a Taiwanese, Hong Kong or Japanese jin, used for small tea quantities. Mainland market liang: 50 g (1 jin = 10 liang since the State Council order of 25 June 1959). Taiwan liang: 37.5 g. Hong Kong liang (司馬兩, the trade tael): 37.7994 g, which is one sixteenth of the legal catty of 0.60478982 kg; a different tael of 37.429 g (金衡両) is used for precious metals. Singapore: 37.799 g. Japan: the ryo (両) is about 37.5 g. The 1929 Nationalist market system used a liang of 31.25 g (1/16 of a 500 g jin). Arithmetic from the figures above: 4 Taiwan liang = 150 g, 4 Hong Kong trade liang = about 151 g, 4 mainland liang = 200 g. In product names the character appears in the Hunan roll 千两茶 (qianliang). Do not confuse with the numeral 两 'two' (liǎng) in counting phrases.
Translation and usage#
| Language | Use | Alternatives & cautions |
|---|---|---|
| English | liang Chinese ounce: 50 g on the mainland, 37.5 g in Taiwan, about 37.8 g in Hong Kong pinyin with a gloss |
Also acceptable
Avoid ounce a different unit; a liang is 37.5 g or 50 g tael for any tea quote without a system tael is also the precious-metal unit (37.429 g in Hong Kong); name the system |
| Deutsch | Liang chinesische Gewichtseinheit (Tael): Festland 50 g, Taiwan 37,5 g, Hongkong rund 37,8 g pinyin with a gloss |
Also acceptable
Avoid Unze a different unit; the tael (Liang) of 37.429 g for Hong Kong on de.wikipedia is the precious-metal tael, not the tea tael |
| Русский | лян китайская «унция»: КНР 50 г, Тайвань 37,5 г, Гонконг около 37,8 г pinyin with a gloss |
Avoid унция a different unit |
| 简体字 | 两 | |
| 繁體字 | 兩 | Regional usage
|
| 日本語 | 両（りょう） 1両＝約37.5 g（日本）。中国では50 g（市両）、台湾37.5 g、香港約37.8 g translation |
Also acceptable
Avoid 日本の両（37.5 g）を中国の市両にそのまま当てはめること a Chinese market liang is 50 g, 33 % more than the Japanese ryo |
Common confusions#
- The Hong Kong tael of 37.429 g is the precious-metals tael; tea is sold in the trade tael (37.7994 g). The Taiwanese liang (37.5 g) and the Hong Kong trade liang (about 37.8 g) differ by 0.8 %.
- Before 1959 the mainland jin counted 16 liang, so an old liang was lighter than today's 50 g; do not apply 50 g to historical weights.