Citizendia

This article is about two traditional Chinese units of length. For other uses of li, including the Confucian virtue, see li (disambiguation). Li (禮 Pinyin: Lǐ is a classical Chinese Ideograph which finds its most extensive use in Confucian and post-Confucian Chinese philosophy
This article contains Chinese text.
Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Chinese characters. Mojibake is the happenstance of incorrect unreadable characters (garbage characters shown when Computer software fails to render a text correctly according to its associated A Chinese character, also known as a Han character ( is a Logogram used in writing Chinese (hanzi Japanese (

The li (里, lǐ) is a traditional Chinese unit of distance, which has varied considerably over time but now has a standardized length of 500 meters or half a kilometer (c. Chinese units of measurement ( are the customary and traditional units of measure used in the People's Republic of China. Distance is a numerical description of how far apart objects are The metre or meter is a unit of Length. It is the basic unit of Length in the Metric system and in the International The kilometre ( American spelling: kilometer) symbol km is a unit of Length in the Metric system, equal to one thousand 1640 feet). A foot (plural feet or foot; symbol or abbreviation ft or sometimes &prime – the prime symbol) is a non-SI unit A modern li consists of 1,500 Chinese "feet" or chi and, in the past, was often translated as a "mile. Chinese units of measurement ( are the customary and traditional units of measure used in the People's Republic of China. " Since the li has generally been only about a third as long as the mile, translating the character as "Chinese mile" or simply "li" is much less likely to produce confusion or error. A mile is a unit of Length, usually used to measure Distance, in a number of different systems including Imperial units United States

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. In Chinese, li is sometimes prefaced by the character shi (市, shì) to distinguish it from the kilometer proper or gongli (公里, gōnglǐ). Chinese units of measurement ( are the customary and traditional units of measure used in the People's Republic of China.

There is also another li (Traditional: 釐, Simplified: 厘, lí) that indicates a unit of length 1/1000th 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. Talk People's Republic of China) PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA ARTICLE GUIDELINES 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. This traditional unit, in terms of historical usage and distance proportion, can be considered the East Asian counterpart to the Western league unit. A league is a unit of Length or Area long common in Europe and Latin America, although no longer an official unit in any nation

Contents

Changing values

Like most traditional Chinese measurements, the li is reputed to have been established by the Yellow Emperor at the founding of the Chinese civilization around 2600 BC and standardized by Yu the Great of the Xia Dynasty six hundred years later. Chinese units of measurement ( are the customary and traditional units of measure used in the People's Republic of China. Huangdi, or the Yellow Emperor, is a Legendary Chinese sovereign and cultural hero who is considered in Chinese mythology to be the Yǔ ( (21st century BCE born Sì Wénmìng) often regarded with legendary status as Yu the Great (大禹 Dà-Yǔ) was the first ruler and founder of The Xia Dynasty ( of China is the first dynasty to be described in ancient historical records such as Records of the Grand Historian and Although the value varied from state to state during the Spring and Autumn 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. The Spring and Autumn Period ( was a period in Chinese history which roughly corresponds to the first half of the Eastern Zhou dynasty (from the second half of the 8th century BC The Warring States Period ( also known as the Era of Warring States covers the period from some time in the 5th century BC to the unification of China by the Not to be confused with the Qing Dynasty, the last dynasty of China

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. The Han Dynasty ( 206 BC–220 AD followed the Qin Dynasty and preceded the Three Kingdoms in China. 8 meters.

During the AD 4th century, the kingdoms of Wei and Western Qin apparently used a li as short as 77 meters. The Northern Wei Dynasty (北魏 Pinyin: běi wèi 386 - 534) also known as the Tuoba Wei (拓拔魏 Later Wei (後魏 or The Western Qin ( 385 - 400, 409 - 431) was a State of Xianbei ethnicity during the era of Sixteen Kingdoms The History of Liang Dynasty from AD 635 describes the state of Wa (Japan) as being 2,000 li across the sea from the Korean Peninsula. The Book of Liang ( was compiled under Yao Silian, completed in 635. Japanese, is the oldest recorded name of Japan. Chinese Korean and Japanese scribes regularly wrote Wa or Yamato "Japan" with the Physical geography See also Geography of North Korea, Geography of South Korea Mountains cover 70 percent of the Korean Peninsula and arable plains are The Tsushima Strait is only 97 kilometers wide, which would indicate a li of 48. also known as the Tsu Shima Strait or Tsu-Shima Strait) is the eastern channel of the Korea Strait, which lies between Korea and Japan, connecting 5 meters, but this is likely simply an erroneous figure and the measurement of distance at sea was notoriously difficult before the invention of reliable clocks (For more information, see longitude). Longitude (ˈlɒndʒɪˌtjuːd or ˈlɒŋgɪˌtjuːd symbolized by the Greek character Lambda (λ is the east-west Geographic coordinate measurement

Under the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907), the li was approximately 323 meters. The Tang Dynasty ( Middle Chinese: dhɑng (June 18 618&ndashJune 4 907 was an imperial dynasty of China preceded by the Sui Dynasty and followed by

In the late Manchu or Qing Dynasty, the number of chi was increased from 1,500 per li to 1,800. The Manchu people ( Manchu: Manju;, Mongolian: Манж Russian: Маньчжуры are a Tungusic people who originated in Not to be confused with Qin Dynasty, the first dynasty of Imperial China This had a value of 2115 feet or 644. 65 meters. In addition, the Qing added a longer unit called the tu, which was equal to 150 li (161. 13 km, 100. 14 miles).

These changes were undone by the Republic of China of Chiang Kai-shek, who adopted the metric system in 1928; but the People's Republic of China under Mao Zedong reinstituted the traditional units as a measure of anti-imperialism and cultural pride. REPUBLIC OF CHINA ARTICLE GUIDELINES Chiang Kai-shek ( POJ: Chiúⁿ Kài-se̍k Jyutping: zoeng2gaai3sek6 GCB ( October 31, 1887 &ndash Mao Zedong ( 26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976) was a Chinese Military and political leader who led

In 1984, the PRC officially adopted the metric system, but found a place within it for the traditional units, which were restandardized to metric values. In the People's Republic, a li is now exactly half a kilometer, or 500 meters. The Republic of China (also known as Taiwan) does not use the li at all, but only the gongli or kilometer. Taiwan ( Taiwanese: Tâi-oân/Tāi-oân (historically 大灣/台員/大員/台圓/大圓/台窩灣 is an Island in East Asia.

However, although "li" still refers to the traditional unit and one must say "gongli" to mean kilometer, with the conversion to metric, the kilometer has become the basic unit of long distances even within the PRC. This is in counter-distinction to weight, where the traditional jin (0. In the Physical sciences weight is a Measurement of the gravitational Force acting on an object Chinese units of measurement ( are the customary and traditional units of measure used in the People's Republic of China. 5 kg) is still frequently preferred in daily use the metric kilogram or gongjin.

Cultural use

As one might expect for the equivalent of "mile," li appears in many Chinese sayings, locations, and proverbs as an indicator of great distances or the exotic:

Other cultures

The long Chinese li was the source of the ri in Korea (리, 里, ri) and Japan (where it is still written 里). is the traditional Japanese system of measurement. The name shakkanhō originates from the name of two of the units, the Shaku

Although the Chinese units had been unofficially used since the Zhou Dynasty, it was the values of the Tang Dynasty that were adopted. The Zhou Dynasty ( POJ: Chiu Tiau 1122 BC to 256 BC was preceded by the Shang Dynasty and followed by the Qin Dynasty in China. The ri of earlier era in Japan was thus true to Chinese length, corresponding 6 chō (ca. 500-600 m), but somehow elongated later to denote the distance a person can walk in a fixed time. Thus there had been various ri, of 36, 40, and 48 chō. Tokugawa shogunate of Edo period defined 36 chō be 1 ri officially, allowing other variants, and the last definition of Japanese government in 1891 adopted this. The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the, and the, was a feudal regime of Japan established by Tokugawa Ieyasu and ruled by the Shoguns of The, also referred to as the Tokugawa period (徳川時代 Tokugawa-jidai) is a division of Japanese history running from 1603 to 1868 Exact figure of Japanese ri was at that time fixed on the metric system, 43200/11 ≈ 3927. The metric system is a decimalised system of measurement. It exists in several variations with different choices of base units, though the choice of base units does 27 metres or about 2. The metre or meter is a unit of Length. It is the basic unit of Length in the Metric system and in the International 44 miles. A mile is a unit of Length, usually used to measure Distance, in a number of different systems including Imperial units United States Thus one must be careful how many chō one ri corresponds to. See Kujūkuri Beach (99-ri beach) for a case. is a sandy beach located on the east coast of the Bōsō Peninsula in Chiba Prefecture, Japan.

In South Korea, however, the ri currently in use is a unit taken from the Han li. South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea and often referred to as Korea ( Korean: 대한민국 tɛː It has a value of approximately 392. 72 metres, being exactly one tenth of Japanese ri. The metre or meter is a unit of Length. It is the basic unit of Length in the Metric system and in the International In Aegukga, the national anthem of South Korea, three thousand ri is mentioned per Korean peninsula, where 3000 ri is roughly 120 km, which is approximately the longitudal span of Korean peninsula. Aegukga is also the name of the national anthem of North Korea, although it is romanized differently South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea and often referred to as Korea ( Korean: 대한민국 tɛː Physical geography See also Geography of North Korea, Geography of South Korea Mountains cover 70 percent of the Korean Peninsula and arable plains are The kilometre ( American spelling: kilometer) symbol km is a unit of Length in the Metric system, equal to one thousand Physical geography See also Geography of North Korea, Geography of South Korea Mountains cover 70 percent of the Korean Peninsula and arable plains are

See also

References

External links

© 2009 citizendia.org; parts available under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License, from http://en.wikipedia.org
 Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic