Taiwanese units of measurement

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Taiwanese units of measurement (Traditional Chinese: 台製; pinyin: Táizhì; Minnan: Tâichoè) are the customary and traditional units of measure used in Taiwan. Many of the units derive from Japanese units of measurement and have similar names as Chinese units of measurement but different conversions than in China or Hong Kong. In some cases these units are used exclusively, in some cases alongside official metric (SI) units, and in other cases they have been supplanted by metric units. Linguistically, all Taiwanese units of measure are Chinese measure words used to classify nouns.

Fruits sold in catties (斤) in a Taiwanese market

1 Length
2 Area
3 Volume
4 Mass
5 See also
6 External links

[edit] Length

Linear measure in Taiwan is largely metric but some units derived from traditional Japanese units of measurement remain in use.

1 chhioh (shaku, foot) (Traditional Chinese: 尺; pinyin: chǐ; Minnan: chhioh) = 10 chhùn (inches) (Traditional Chinese: 寸; pinyin: cùn; Minnan: chhùn)

(1 chhioh [shaku] = 0.30 meters)

[edit] Area

Unlike with other measures, area continues to be almost exclusively measured with traditional rather than SI units. Taiwanese units of land measurement derive from both traditional Dutch and Japanese measurements. The principal unit of land measure, the kah, derives from the obsolete Dutch akker which was introduced in Taiwan's era of Dutch colonization. The principal unit for measuring real estate, the phêng, like the Korean pyeong, derives from the Japanese tsubo.

1 kah (Traditional Chinese: 甲; pinyin: jiǎ; Minnan: kah) = 5 lê (Traditional Chinese: 犁; pinyin: lí; Minnan: lê) = 2934 phêng (Traditional Chinese: 坪; pinyin: píng Minnan: phêng)

1 bó· (Traditional Chinese: 畝; pinyin: mǔ; Minnan: bó·) = 30 phêng

(1 kah = 0.97 hectares)
(1 phêng = 3.31 square meters)
(1 bó· = 0.99 ares)

[edit] Volume

Volume measure in Taiwan is largely metric.

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[edit] Mass

Packaged goods in Taiwan largely use metric measurements but bulk foodstuffs sold in wet markets and supermarkets are typically measured with units derived from traditional Japanese units of measurement.