Posted 2016/9/5
The system of weights and measures was put in place as early as 4,000 to 5,000 years ago. According to legend, the Yellow Emperor established the measurement unit "wuliang" and his son Shaohao standardized measurement units and regulated musical notes.
The earliest measurement units were not accurate at all. For instance, the limbs of the human body were used to measure length. The length of a forearm was considered as one chi, and the length of a finger was considered as one cun. And the amount a hand could hold was called a "ju" (handful), and the amount two hands could hold was called a "yi" (double handful). During the reign of Yu the Great, measurement units were somewhat standardized by using celebrities’ limb lengths, which were set as legal units. Along with the development of commodity exchange, weights and measures became increasingly standardized. In the Warring States Period, metal instruments were widely used in all states as measurement units. When Emperor Qinshihuang unified the country, he issued an imperial edict on the standardization of measurement units, formulating a stringent management system
