Chapter 26 Section 4 The Appearance of Bronze Weights and Measures

Measuring and measuring instruments are instruments for measuring length, volume or weight. They are products of social and economic development to a certain stage and social and historical development entering the age of civilization.It is said that the tooth ruler of the Shang Dynasty unearthed from the Yin Ruins in Anyang, Henan Province, depicts the measurement and uses the decimal system.According to the actual measurement, one foot is about 15.78-15.80 centimeters.In the Warring States Period, with the establishment of the feudal system, taxation in kind gradually replaced labor rent; the further development of the commodity economy, in order to facilitate commodity exchange and tax collection, accurate and durable bronze measuring instruments appeared.According to legend, the Warring States copper ruler unearthed in Jincun, Luoyang, Henan Province in 1931 is flat and long, 23.1 cm long, 1.7 cm wide, and 0.4 cm thick, with 10 inches carved on one side.

The most famous bronze measuring vessel in the Warring States Period is Fangsheng, a standard measuring vessel made during the Shangyang reform of Qin State.Rectangular with a handle at one end.The total length is 18.7 cm, the inner mouth is 12.4774 cm long, 6.9742 cm wide and 2.323 cm deep.The inscription on the left side of the body is 32 characters: "(Qin Xiaogong) eighteen years (344 BC) Qi led the ministers to hire, in the winter of December Yiyou, Daliang built a martingale, and accumulated sixteen (inch) five One liter is one liter." That is, a volume of 161/5 cubic inches is one liter.It shows that the method of "judgment by degree" has been used at this time, reflecting the high level of mathematical calculation and equipment manufacturing in the Warring States Period.After calculation, one liter is 202.15 cubic centimeters.The bottom was later engraved with the imperial edict of Qin Shihuang's twenty-sixth year (221 BC) to unify weights and measures, which shows that when Qin Shihuang unified weights and measures, Shang Yang Fangsheng was used as the standard.In addition, in the seventh year of Xianfeng in the Qing Dynasty (1857 A.D.), three bronze measuring vessels from the Qi State during the Warring States period were unearthed in Lingshanwei, Jiaoxian County, Shandong Province: Zihezi (Tianhe) kettle, Chenchun kettle, Zuoguan (釒he) [he combine〕.The measured volume of the Zihezi kettle is 20460 ml, and it is deduced that one liter is 204.6 ml.There are more than 90 characters of inscriptions engraved on the belly surface of the Zihezi kettle, indicating that the Zuoguan kettle is based on the kettle of the granary. If the Guan people cheat, they should be stopped or punished, which shows that there was a calibration and management system for the measuring instrument at that time.

There are two main types of bronze weighing instruments in the Warring States Period.One is ring rights.For example, in 1954, the balance and copper ring of the state of Chu were unearthed from Tomb No. 15 in Zuojiagong Mountain, Changsha.The balance is a wooden pole (weight), flat and bar-shaped, 27 cm long.Drill a hole in the middle, and thread a thread through the hole as a handle.Drill a hole 0.7 cm inside each end of the rod, and thread a silk thread inside to tie a copper plate.The copper disc is four centimeters in diameter.There are a total of nine copper rings in a set, namely half a catty, four taels, two taels, one tael, 12 baht [zhuzhu], six baht, three baht, two baht, and one baht.According to calculations based on the weight of half a catty of 125 grams, the weight of a catty in Chu State at that time was 250 grams.This kind of balance and copper ring weight are probably used to weigh the gold currency of Chu State (Ying scale, etc.).One is hemispherical (a few are melon-shaped, etc.), with a nose button on the top.For example, in 1964, the high slave power of the Qin State during the Warring States Period was unearthed at the site of Afang Palace in Xi'an. There were 16 characters inscribed on it: "Three years, the painter was built by Xi (Xi) and Cheng [qu], and the worker was minister Mou. He Shi , Gaonu." In addition, the imperial edict of the 26th year of Qin Shihuang, the imperial edict of the first year of Qin II and the words "Gaonushi" are engraved.Gao Nu is located in Yanchuan County, Shaanxi today.The height is 17.2 cm, the bottom diameter is 23.6 cm, and the weight is 30750 grams.Based on this, it can be inferred that a catty of Qin in the Warring States period is about 256.3 grams.This kind of Qin Quan was also cast with iron, and it was often inlaid with a copper edict engraved with the twenty-sixth year of Qin Shihuang's edict. Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, it has been unearthed in Wendeng, Shandong, Tiger Mountain, Aohan Banner, Inner Mongolia, and Zuoyun, Shanxi. .