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On the origin and development of Chinese weights and measures

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Social and economic history of China.

In recent decades, especially after liberation, considerable achievements have been made in the study of the history of weights and measures in China. Unfortunately, there are many special studies on a device, a thing and a generation, but few comprehensive general theories; There are many discussions about the change of the quantity of weights and measures, but there are few discussions about the change of the socio-economic nature reflected by the above weights and measures. Many scholars only explain the change of the unit quantity of the official weights and measures system from the perspective of the government's tax exploitation of the people, but have not yet combined with the stage of social development, especially the struggle between the two opposing basic classes in various social and economic forms. The conclusion drawn from this is naturally not comprehensive enough to expose the main contradictions in social and economic life that day. The weaknesses here are: 65,438+0. There are many studies on official system and central system, but the so-called "folk system" and local system are not fully studied, and the opposition and historical inheritance between them are not elaborated much; 2. There is more research on ruler, but not enough research on quantity (such as barrels and stones); 3. The application of these two methods, the actual measurement of antiquities and the textual research of historical records, is often only one of them, but the two methods are not properly and closely combined; 4. For the actual measurement of antiquities, it is often only to obtain actual value, but not enough attention is paid to the shape and historical status of antiquities; 5. Discusses the changes of weights and measures system in past dynasties from the perspective of exchange or distribution, ignoring the influence and function of production; 6. The reaction force of the superstructure has not been properly exerted. At the above points, I put forward a paper entitled "Changes of Weights and Measures in China in Past Dynasties and Its Characteristics of the Times" at the annual meeting of Guangdong Historical Society 1960, and expressed my superficial views. What is published here is only a part of this article. I hope comrades will correct their mistakes.

First, the origin of weights and measures

First of all, it should be pointed out that the emergence of weights and measures is directly related to the exchange behavior on the basis of the development of social production to a certain level. In the late primitive society, communication between clans began. At first, one tribe or clan and another tribe or clan gave each other raw products as gifts. Later, the two tribes or clans occasionally exchanged different kinds of stone tools, such as Shi Mao for a stone axe. But this kind of exchange only belongs to the category of primitive exchange, which is extremely rare and accidental. There is no need for weights and measures here.

With the first and second large-scale social division of labor in human history (agriculture and animal husbandry, handicrafts and agriculture have been divided one after another), different clans or tribes have different products to exchange with each other, such as exchanging grain for sheep and pottery for millet and wheat. However, at the beginning, most of the exchange methods were still at the stage of talking about the number of piles and piecework, and the demand for weights and measures was not urgent. The further development of exchange is not only between clans, but also among clan members gradually. At this time, the exchange behavior has changed from accidental phenomenon to regularization and regularization. Since then, the whole pile of exchange methods have become too rough, which is often not suitable for the actual needs of both parties and is easy to cause disputes. In order to overcome these difficulties, the most primitive measuring methods or instruments are used. The emergence of this situation should be in the face of the disintegration of primitive society.

What was originally used as a measuring instrument? Is man himself. People can measure a certain length with their own hands, feet and movements. "Confucius' Family Language" said: "Fu Bu refers to the inch, the cloth hand knows the ruler, and the elbow knows the search (eight feet), but it is not far away. "That is to say, the length of the middle section of the middle finger of choose and employ persons is one inch. Because there are two horizontal stripes in the middle of the middle finger, the upper one shall prevail. The distance between the middle finger and thumb in a straight line is one foot; The arms extend horizontally for eight feet. The origin of the naming of length units in Xiao Er Ya is: "You can do it at one stroke. The era is this step. Four feet, that's it. Double it, it's called looking for it. Find and relax your arm. It's normal to look for it twice. Five feet is ink. Double ink is called Zhang. Double Zhang is called Duan. Double-ended, that's called two. Double it. It's called a horse. "The naming cloud of capacity units is also explained in this way:" One hand is full, two hands are full. "Although the name has increased a lot, the principle of the measurement method is basically the same as that described in the family language." Mozi's City Gate Chapter: "Count the trees in the city, ten people do ten slaps, five people do five slaps, and the number of people is eight. "Mozi said that people's physical strength is a measure of weight. "Shuo Wen Jie Zi" says: "Weekly system: the amount of inch, ruler, loyalty, search, regulation and cutting are all subject to the human body." Another cloud said, "inch, ten points." ..... A person's hand is ten inches long (measured by inches, that is, wrist movement), and ten inches is a ruler. "The above mentioned refers to a person's palm." Shuowen says: "China women's hands are eight inches long. "Of course, the above records are not loyal to history, but as an explanation of the original state of ancient weights and measures, it makes sense. The origin of this legend is basically a reflection of historical facts. The ancient concept that weights and measures can be taken out of the human body was acquired in the practice of production and exchange. To this day, people still use their hands and feet to measure the length on some occasions, which shows that this method will be more popular in ancient times. Shuowen also pointed out that the hand of a "China woman" shall prevail, and its eight-inch length is called "Zhi", which obviously means the future. However, this measurement method is still very rough.

The further method is to choose straight branches as measuring instruments, or borrow daily containers (such as kettles, beans, buckets, etc.). ) as a measuring device and so on. However, these are only temporary applications, not instruments specially used for weights and measures. Even if relics are found, they cannot be determined to be weights and measures, because they are not "specialized instruments".

After the third great division of labor, due to the expansion of social division of labor and the improvement of social productivity, private ownership of property appeared, so for the first time, some businessmen who were not engaged in production but only engaged in the exchange of means of production appeared. With the development of commerce, the demand for weights and measures has increased. At that time, the change of exchange form not only developed from barter exchange to expanded exchange, but also entered the general exchange form, but still dominated by direct exchange, and the form of currency exchange was only in the initial stage. At this time, as a special device for weights and measures, it may have appeared, but their simple production situation should not be greatly improved than before. The historical relics equivalent to this period seem to have not been found in China.

Secondly, from several existing ancient objects, this paper discusses the development of the system of weights and measures in the period when our society changed from slavery to feudalism.

Since the establishment and development of slave society, social productive forces have been greatly improved, private ownership of property has been consolidated day by day, and exchange economy has also developed greatly, which in turn has promoted the progress of productive forces. At this time, the product components in the form of commodities have greatly increased, the direct exchange mode has been replaced by the indirect exchange mode, and the currency exchange mode has developed day by day. Due to the development of private ownership, people are more and more serious about property; Due to the development of commodity currency relationship, the requirement of equivalent exchange is more and more clear; Therefore, the accuracy of weights and measures cannot be overemphasized. So first of all, their measurement standards are fixed on some special instruments, so the so-called special devices appear. The manufacturing process of this special device has also changed from rough to precise, so the so-called standard device appeared, which was explicitly promulgated by the state and stipulated as a use.

First of all, it should be clear that the three kinds of measuring instruments were originally formulated for people's needs in production and exchange. The government's explicit provisions only recognize the fait accompli and institutionalize it, so the folk system must precede the official system. Here is a question: in the order in which they appear, which one appears first and which one comes later? Scholars are still inconclusive. That is, as Wu said, there are contradictions. Wu's History of China's Weights and Measures says on page 6: "There was the earliest weighing and measuring system", and on page 100: "There was the earliest weighing and measuring system"; However, on page 173, it is said that "quantity begins with degree", and on page 2 18, it is said that "the assessment of China's weights and measures system should be based on degree first, then quantity and balance." Judging from the reasons for Wu's inconsistency, the former is based on the paragraph of "showing the family as a measure" in Kao, and its mistake lies in thinking that what is recorded in Kao is the system implemented in Zhou Dynasty; After that, Huang Zhong's theory of system was based on the record of Hanshu Law and Discipline, which was from an academic point of view. I think, whether in theory or in history, it should be: measuring tools are the earliest, measuring tools are the second, and weighing instruments are the second. Because theoretically area and volume, capacity and even weight can be calculated from length, visibility is the most basic. And judging from the difficulty of making utensils, the same is true: the manufacturing of measuring tools is relatively easy and simple, followed by measuring tools, weighing instruments are not only more complicated, but also have higher technological requirements. Moreover, its appearance must be when the exchange economy has been quite active. However, when the metrological system was completely established, not only did the three instruments have their own special devices (and their standard devices), but they were all formulated at the same time according to the same standard. In this case, the three constitute a whole, but the degree is still the basic quantity, such as the production of new mango. This development process can also be proved from the history and cultural relics of Chinese weights and measures.

It is said that the Shang Dynasty bone ruler unearthed in Anyang is now in Nanjing Museum, which can be said to be one of the oldest existing weights and measures in China. The number of Shang Dynasty is decimal, so the quotient ruler is divided into ten inches. This ruler has inches, but it is not engraved. The lengths of inches are not equal. There is a depression in this ruler. If it is really a business ruler, it can be seen that the measurement of the Shang Dynasty during slavery is still quite rough; At the same time, it seems to be a circumstantial evidence that slavery did not reach a high level at that time. This ruler is 0. 1679 meters long, which is about the length of a palm. It is also worth noting that. According to Comrade Shang Chengzuo, this ruler is used to measure tortoise plates.

From the aspect of Oracle Bone Inscriptions, it can also be explained that there were tools for measuring length in Shang Dynasty. See "

After liberation, archaeological excavations in China have developed by leaps and bounds, and many cultural relics have been unearthed. But there seems to be no weights and measures to determine whether it was in or before the Western Zhou Dynasty. Only during the Warring States period, the weights unearthed from Chu weighing instruments were found many times, especially nine wooden weights unearthed from the tomb of Zuojiagongshan 15 in Changsha. After careful calculation, the weight is multiplied in size and accurate in quantity. In addition, objects such as Warring States Rights unearthed in Changsha and Qin Quan in Zuoyun, Shanxi, although they can represent weighing instruments in individual areas, have little effect in archaeological research.

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(1) the contract book after Yin Ruins, the seventh edition, page 4.

The cultural relics handed down from the Qin and Han Dynasties in China are of great significance after detailed research by scholars, including the following three musical instruments: Yang Liang of Qin Shang, the scepter of Qin Shihuang and II, and Jia Liang of Xin Mang. Regarding the first type, Tang Lan's article "Shang Yang Quantity and Shang Yang Ruler" can be used for reference. Second, please refer to Wu Dacheng's book "Experimental Test of Trade-off Measurement". As for the third type, there are many ancient and modern ones. The amount of salary increase has been discovered at least five times from the Cao Wei period of the Three Kingdoms to the early Qing Dynasty. Today, the Beijing Museum of History still has a complete number and a residual number. Before War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, several weights attached to Xin Mang scales were found in Gansu, but they were all incomplete. Later, there were Weng Fanggang, Wu Dayou, Ma Heng, Wang Guowei and Liu Fu. In the Qing Dynasty, the regulations on Xin Mang's good father had been made clear. However, in terms of measured values, the results obtained by scientists are often different from each other. Wu's figure is calculated according to the records in Xiqing Ancient Mirror, which is slightly different from the measured figure. Comrade Yang Kuan thinks that Liu's figures are "self-accurate, but there is still no doubt". I haven't done any research in this field, and I have no right to speak at all. I just want to discuss these related issues from another angle.

Personally, the immature view is that the study of the history of weights and measures first needs the verification of actual values, which is naturally very necessary and can be said to be the most basic work. But based on this, we can't judge whether the system of weights and measures has changed in past dynasties, let alone demonstrate its characteristics of the times. Moreover, as far as the weights and measures system itself is concerned, it is not a simple quantitative problem. I tried to illustrate my point of view by comparing and analyzing the quantity of Shang Yang, Qin Quan and Xin Mang.

Here I just want to quote a paper published by Mr. Wan in 1955 as the starting point of our discussion. Wan Zhu's Textual Research on Weights and Measures in Qin and Han Dynasties (Collection of Agricultural Heritage Studies, Volume II) is based on the measurement results of ancient relics by predecessors, verified by the method of accumulating millet, and converted the weights and measures in Qin and Han Dynasties into the current system, and pointed out that there are problems with Wu Dacheng's weekly ruler and Wu Ding's weekly ruler. These points have been done in depth and carefully, and the results may not be completely correct, but there are still some. But I don't agree with his views on Shang Yang's restructuring and Wang Mang's restructuring. According to his research, the length of the ruler of the Late Zhou Dynasty, the ruler of Shang Yang and the ruler of Wang Mang are the same, so neither Yang nor Wang Mang has made any major reform in the system of weights and measures. He said: "Qin Shihuang unified China and unified the national weights and measures with the original weights and measures system of Qin State, that is, the weights and measures system since Qin Xiaogong. The Qin system was used in the Han Dynasty. Wang Mang only used the original standard system to unify national weights and measures. " He also said: "Since the ruler is the same as the ruler in the late Zhou Dynasty, what major reform has Wang Mang made in terms of scale? Shang Yang's measuring ruler is also the same as that of Han Wei and other rulers of the later Zhou Dynasty. It can be seen that Shang Yang has not carried out any major reforms. " (Wan: Examination of Weights and Measures in Qin and Han Dynasties, p. 144, 147) In my opinion, it is not only quantity that constitutes the system of weights and measures, but also the shape of utensils, such as rectangular martingale and cylindrical mangle, which should be paid full attention to. That is, at the end of the Southern Song Dynasty, the form of greeting was changed from cylindrical to truncated square cone, which had to be admitted as a major reform in the history of Chinese weights and measures, because this reform had the function of preventing floating income in land tax management.

Secondly, the accuracy and roughness of measuring instruments will also affect the accuracy of measuring instruments. From this point of view, martingale quantity cannot be compared with mang quantity. A set of theories to guide the manufacture of utensils was not completed until Wang Mang's time and has been put into practice. Let's be specific.

Moreover, according to historical records, the Zhou Dynasty took 100 steps as an acre, and the Qin Dynasty took 240 steps as an acre. Mr. Wan also confirmed that it was being revised (The Measurement of Wood in Qin and Han Dynasties, p. 162). How can it be said that Shang Yang has not undergone major reforms?

Last but not least, the historical conditions-social and economic development of these three cultural relics are different.

Our society reached the end of slavery in the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BC). At that time, the class struggle in various countries was very sharp, and the situation of weights and measures was also very chaotic and complicated. The ruling class regards weights and measures not only as a tool of exploitation, but also as a tool of political struggle. The most famous example is the strategy of Chen, a clan of Qi in the 6th century BC, to seize the state power of Qi. At that time, the weights and measures system of Qi was four liters of beans, four beans were belts, four belts were pots, and ten pots were bells. The private room measures five liters of beans, five beans are zones, five zones are kettles, and ten kettles are bells. When he lends money to the people, he uses the amount of money (big clock), and when he takes back the goods, he uses the amount of money (Jason Chung). Buy off people's hearts with such small favors. Chen's death achieved the goal of seizing the supreme sovereignty of Qi. Later, when Bai staged a coup in Chu in 479 BC, he also used the same method to win people's hearts: "Fight hard and bear less weight." These two examples show that the ruling class of a country can use its own weights and measures, and no one can control anyone. After the coup, both Qi and Chu were transferred from slave society to feudal society, and the kinship rule of slave owners and nobles was replaced by the regional connection rule of feudal owners, which was fully reflected in the system of weights and measures.

By the Warring States Period (475-22 BC1), many countries had entered the primary stage of feudalism, but Qin was the last one. It was not until Shang Yang's second political reform in Qin Xiaogong (350 BC) that the minefield system was abolished. In the same year, the order of unified measurement was issued. After that, the transition from slavery to feudalism in Qin dynasty officially began, and the production of Shang Yang quantity was the product of this period. At that time, the economic situation of Qin was relatively backward. In the seventh year of Qin Xiangong (378 BC), the market system was established through political power, which was less than 30 years earlier than Shang Yang and unified measurement. Fourteen years after the invasion, in the second year of Qin Huiwen (336 BC), and then to the "first money", the monetary system was first established, which shows that the exchange economy is not very developed. The emergence of currency is a sign that the exchange economy has been quite active. When barter has taken the form of general value, weights and measures already exist, but we still need to wait for the birth of money to avoid the difficulty of direct exchange and reach the stage of monetary value form. From this point of view, the progressive significance of money should be affirmed, but the role of weights and measures in trading is more basic and important than money, because only without weights and measures of money can we exchange; If there is only money without weights and measures, the unit quantity and price of goods are uncertain. I really don't know how troublesome it is to exchange.

Because the exchange economy of Qin was relatively backward at that time, the weights and measures system formulated by Shang Yang could not be very precise, and the manufacture of instruments was also relatively rough. "Historical Records Biography of Shang Jun" contains: "Fighting flat, fighting heavy, fighting feet, fighting feet." There are two points to pay attention to: first, it shows that the determination of weights and measures at that time has not been combined with music law; Secondly, according to Shuo Wen Jie Zi, "a barrel, a wooden square (vessel), receives six liters." Duan Yucai quoted Yue Ling as a comment, saying that six barrels are welcome in one barrel. In short, no matter how big or small, it is just a bucket. According to the records of Qin dynasty, there are three kinds of wood, pottery and copper, and the forms are rectangle, ellipse and circle. There are holes in the four corners of the imperial edict for nailing on wood. Therefore, it can be seen that its production is still quite rough and uneven.

Today's Shang Yang Juan is made of copper, with the inscription of Qin Xiaogong 18-year-old Shang Yang Juan and the imperial edict of Qin Shihuang at the age of 26. It should be specially refined, but it is still far from the exquisite production of Xin Mang Juan.

Shang Yang presided over the reform of the Qin Dynasty for nineteen years. He issued a series of decrees aimed at establishing a centralized and powerful government in Qiang Bing, a rich country. Of course, the privilege of the Qin royal family is the object of his operation. The reason for the promulgation of the weights and measures law is to establish a unified system and abolish the private room weights and measures system, but the scope of implementation can only be limited to Qin at most. After Qin Shihuang unified China in the 26th year, he promulgated the imperial edict of "one law, one measure, one scale, one stone and one foot". Shang Yang's system standard is used to unify the different disordered states of weights and measures in various countries since the Warring States Period, with the aim of being implemented throughout China. It is time for feudalism to enter the centralized system. Wu Dacheng's collection of power tools in Qin Dynasty has four triples, two of which have the same weight, one is copper and the other is iron.

The unification of the Qin Dynasty lasted only fifteen years. There was no customization of weights and measures after the Han Dynasty, but it was inherited from the Qin Dynasty. However, after more than 200 years, the system will tend to be out of order. Wang Mang's reform tried to unify this phenomenon. At this time, not only the centralized system was strengthened, but also the feudal economy developed greatly, as evidenced by the exquisite production of the new awn armor. The system of weights and measures in our country is complete and written in books. In fact, it started from the records of laws and calendars in the Han Dynasty, which is a reflection of the actual social development at that time.

Xin Mang Jia Liang is not only an important material for ancient and modern scholars' textual research, but also the main reference for feudal dynasties to revise the system of weights and measures after the Three Kingdoms. Why is it so important? Because it represents an unprecedented complete system. The evaluation system of Xinmang is in line with the principle of "measuring talents" mentioned in volume 21 of Hanshu Law and Discipline. Under this principle, the volume of a quantity can be calculated from the scale, and its capacity can also be determined accordingly. Xin Mang's system is a complete system consisting of five units: degree, quantity and weight (balance), and weights and measures are interrelated. Needless to say, the production of this etalon requires a high level of culture and technology, which marks the achievements of the feudal system in a quite mature period. Therefore, Wang Mang's system of weights and measures was not only used in the later Han Dynasty, but also influenced the Qing Dynasty.

Moreover, Wang Mang's repeated monetary reforms also proved that the exchange economy was developed at that time. Every time experts in ancient spring studies verify the ancient system of weights and measures with ancient coins, they only use the Daquan and Kaiyuan Money written by Wang Mang in the Tang Dynasty, because the lengths of these two kinds of money are relatively accurate in history.

In a word, judging from the quantity of Shang Yang, the power of Qin Shihuang and the quantity of Jia, no matter how fine and coarse it is, and the integrity of the guiding theory it is based on (see reliable historical records), it is in line with the social development at that time. We cannot conclude that the system has not changed just because the scale has not changed.