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Li (unit) AI simulator
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Li (unit) AI simulator
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Li (unit)
Li or ri (Chinese: 里, lǐ, or 市里, shìlǐ), also known as the Chinese mile,[citation needed] is a traditional Chinese unit of distance. The li has varied considerably over time but was usually about one third of an English mile and now has a standardized length of a half-kilometer (500 meters or 1,640 feet or 0.311 miles). This is then divided into 1,500 chi, or "Chinese feet".
The character 里 combines the characters for "field" (田, tián) and "earth" (土, tǔ), since it was considered to be about the length of a single village. As late as the 1940s, a "li" did not represent a fixed measure but could be longer or shorter depending on the effort required to cover the distance. This traditional unit, in terms of historical usage and distance proportion, can be considered[citation needed] the East Asian counterpart to the Western league unit. However, in English league commonly means "3 miles."
There is also another li (Traditional: 釐, Simplified: 厘, lí) that indicates a unit of length 1⁄1000 of a chi, but it is used much less commonly. This li is used in the People's Republic of China as the equivalent of the centi- prefix in metric units, thus limi (厘米, límǐ) for centimeter. The tonal difference makes it distinguishable to speakers of Chinese, but unless specifically noted otherwise, any reference to li will always refer to the longer traditional unit and not to either the shorter unit or the kilometer.
Like most traditional Chinese measurements, the li was reputed to have been established by the Yellow Emperor at the founding of Chinese civilization around 2600 BC and standardized by Yu the Great of the Xia dynasty six hundred years later. Although the value varied from state to state during the Spring and Autumn period and Warring States periods, historians give a general value to the li of 405 meters prior to the Qin dynasty imposition of its standard in the 3rd century BC.[citation needed]
The basic Chinese traditional unit of distance was the chi. As its value changed over time, so did the li's. In addition, the number of chi per li was sometimes altered. To add further complexity, under the Qin dynasty, the li was set at 360 "paces" (步, bù) but the number of chi per bu was subsequently changed from 6 to 5, shortening the li by 1⁄6. Thus, the Qin li of about 576 meters became (with other changes) the Han li, which was standardized at 415.8 meters.
The basic units of measurement remained stable over the Qin and Han periods. A bronze imperial standard measure, dated AD 9, had been preserved at the Imperial Palace in Beijing and came to light in 1924. This has allowed very accurate conversions to modern measurements, which has provided a new and extremely useful additional tool in the identification of place names and routes. These measurements have been confirmed in many ways including the discovery of a number of rulers found at archaeological sites, and careful measurements of distances between known points. The Han li was calculated by Dubs to be 415.8 metres and all indications are that this is a precise and reliable determination.
Under the Tang dynasty (AD 618–907), the li was approximately 323 meters.[citation needed]
In the late Manchu or Qing dynasty, the number of chi was increased from 1,500 per li to 1,800. This had a value of 2115 feet or 644.6 meters. In addition, the Qing added a longer unit called the tu, which was equal to 150 li (96.7 km).
Li (unit)
Li or ri (Chinese: 里, lǐ, or 市里, shìlǐ), also known as the Chinese mile,[citation needed] is a traditional Chinese unit of distance. The li has varied considerably over time but was usually about one third of an English mile and now has a standardized length of a half-kilometer (500 meters or 1,640 feet or 0.311 miles). This is then divided into 1,500 chi, or "Chinese feet".
The character 里 combines the characters for "field" (田, tián) and "earth" (土, tǔ), since it was considered to be about the length of a single village. As late as the 1940s, a "li" did not represent a fixed measure but could be longer or shorter depending on the effort required to cover the distance. This traditional unit, in terms of historical usage and distance proportion, can be considered[citation needed] the East Asian counterpart to the Western league unit. However, in English league commonly means "3 miles."
There is also another li (Traditional: 釐, Simplified: 厘, lí) that indicates a unit of length 1⁄1000 of a chi, but it is used much less commonly. This li is used in the People's Republic of China as the equivalent of the centi- prefix in metric units, thus limi (厘米, límǐ) for centimeter. The tonal difference makes it distinguishable to speakers of Chinese, but unless specifically noted otherwise, any reference to li will always refer to the longer traditional unit and not to either the shorter unit or the kilometer.
Like most traditional Chinese measurements, the li was reputed to have been established by the Yellow Emperor at the founding of Chinese civilization around 2600 BC and standardized by Yu the Great of the Xia dynasty six hundred years later. Although the value varied from state to state during the Spring and Autumn period and Warring States periods, historians give a general value to the li of 405 meters prior to the Qin dynasty imposition of its standard in the 3rd century BC.[citation needed]
The basic Chinese traditional unit of distance was the chi. As its value changed over time, so did the li's. In addition, the number of chi per li was sometimes altered. To add further complexity, under the Qin dynasty, the li was set at 360 "paces" (步, bù) but the number of chi per bu was subsequently changed from 6 to 5, shortening the li by 1⁄6. Thus, the Qin li of about 576 meters became (with other changes) the Han li, which was standardized at 415.8 meters.
The basic units of measurement remained stable over the Qin and Han periods. A bronze imperial standard measure, dated AD 9, had been preserved at the Imperial Palace in Beijing and came to light in 1924. This has allowed very accurate conversions to modern measurements, which has provided a new and extremely useful additional tool in the identification of place names and routes. These measurements have been confirmed in many ways including the discovery of a number of rulers found at archaeological sites, and careful measurements of distances between known points. The Han li was calculated by Dubs to be 415.8 metres and all indications are that this is a precise and reliable determination.
Under the Tang dynasty (AD 618–907), the li was approximately 323 meters.[citation needed]
In the late Manchu or Qing dynasty, the number of chi was increased from 1,500 per li to 1,800. This had a value of 2115 feet or 644.6 meters. In addition, the Qing added a longer unit called the tu, which was equal to 150 li (96.7 km).
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