Li(unit)

Li(Chinese:,lǐ,orThành phố,shìlǐ), also known as theChinese mile,^{[citation needed]}is atraditional Chinese unitofdistance.Thelihas varied considerably over time but was usually about one third of an Englishmileand now has a standardized length of a half-kilometer(500metersor 1,640feetor 0.311miles). This is then divided into 1,500chior "Chinese feet".

The charactercombines the characters for "field" (Điền,tián) and "earth" (Thổ,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 theeffortrequired to cover the distance.^[1]

There is also anotherli(Traditional:Li,Simplified:Li,lí) that indicates a unit of length1⁄1000of achi,but it is used much less commonly. Thisliis used in thePeople's Republic of Chinaas the equivalent of thecenti-prefix in metric units, thuslimi(Centimet,límǐ) for centimeter. Thetonal differencemakes it distinguishable to speakers of Chinese, but unless specifically noted otherwise, any reference toliwill 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 theEast Asiancounterpart to the Westernleague unit.However, in Englishleaguecommonly means "3 miles."

Changing values

Like mosttraditional Chinese measurements,theliwas reputed to have been established by theYellow Emperorat the founding of Chinese civilization around2600 BCand standardized byYu the Greatof theXia dynastysix hundred years later. Although the value varied from state to state during theSpring and Autumn periodandWarring Statesperiods, historians give a general value to theliof 405 meters prior to theQin dynastyimposition of its standard in the 3rd century BC.^{[citation needed]}

The basic Chinese traditional unit of distance was thechi.As its value changed over time, so did theli's. In addition, the number ofchiperliwas sometimes altered. To add further complexity, under the Qin dynasty, theliwas set at 360 "paces" (Bước,bù) but the number ofchiperbuwas subsequently changed from 6 to 5, shortening theliby1⁄6.Thus, the Qinliof about 576 meters became (with other changes) theHanli,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.^[2]The Hanliwas calculated by Dubs to be 415.8 metres^[3]and all indications are that this is a precise and reliable determination.^[2]

**Evolving values of theli^{[citation needed]}**
Dynasty	Period	SIlength
Xia	2100–1600BCE	405 m
Western Zhou	1045–771 BCE	358 m
Eastern Zhou	770–250 BCE	416 m
Qin	221–206 BCE	415.8 m
Han	205 BCE – 220CE	415.8 m
Tang	618–907 CE	323 m
Qing	1644–1911 CE	537–645 m
ROC	1911–1984	500–545 m
PRC	1984–present	500 m

Under theTang dynasty(AD 618–907), theliwas approximately 323 meters.^{[citation needed]}

In the lateManchuorQing dynasty,the number ofchiwas increased from 1,500 perlito 1,800. This had a value of 2115 feet or 644.6 meters. In addition, the Qing added a longer unit called thetu,which was equal to 150li(96.7 km).

These changes were undone by theRepublic of ChinaofChiang Kai-shek,who adopted the metric system in 1928. The Republic of China (now also known asTaiwan) continues not to use theliat all but only the kilometer (Mandarin:Km,gōnglǐ,lit."common li" ).

UnderMao Zedong,thePeople's Republic of Chinareinstituted the traditional units as a measure of anti-imperialism and cultural pride before officially adopting themetric systemin 1984. A place was made within this for the traditional units, which were restandardized to metric values. A modernliis thus set at exactly half a kilometer (500 meters). However, unlike thejinwhich is still frequently preferred in daily use over the kilogram, theliis almost never used. Nonetheless, its appearance in many phrases and sayings means that "kilometer" must always be specified by sayinggōnglǐin full.

Cultural use

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

One Chinese name for theGreat Wallis the "Ten-Thousand-Li Long Wall" (traditional Chinese:Vạn Lý Trường Thành;simplified Chinese:Vạn Lý Trường Thành;pinyin:Wànlǐchángchéng).As in Greek,the number "ten thousand" is used figuratively in Chinese to mean any "immeasurable" value and this title has never provided a literal distance of 10,000li(5,000 km or 3,100 mi). The actual length of the modern Great Wall is around 42,000li(21,000 km or 13,000 mi), over 4 times the name's proverbially "immeasurable" length.^{[citation needed]}
TheChinese proverbappearing inchapter 64of theTao Te Chingand commonly rendered as "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step" in fact refers to a thousandli:Ngàn dặm hành trình, thủy với dưới chân(Qiānlǐzhīxíng, shǐyúzúxià).
The greatest horses of Chinese history – includingRed Hareand Hualiu ( hoa lưu ) – are all referred to as "thousand-lihorses"(Thiên lý mã,qiānlǐmǎ), since they could supposedly travel a thousandli(500 km or 310 mi) in a single day.
Liis sometimes used in location names, for example:Wulipu(Chinese: Năm dặm phô trấn ), Hubei;Ankang Wulipu Airport(Chinese: An khang năm dặm phô sân bay ), Shaanxi.Sanlitun(Chinese:Tam Lí Truân;pinyin:Sānlǐtún;lit.'three li village') is an area inBeijing.

Ri in Japan and Korea

The present day Koreanri(리, ) and Japaneseri( ) are units of measurements that can be traced back to the Chineseli( ).

Although the Chinese unit was unofficially used in Japan since theZhou dynasty,the countries officially adopted the measurement used by theTang dynasty(618–907 AD). Theriof an earlier era in Japan was thus true to Chinese length, corresponding to six chō (c.500–600 m), but later evolved to denote the distance that a person carrying a load would aim to cover on mountain roads in one hour. Thus, there had been variousriof 36, 40, and 48 chō. In theEdo period,theTokugawa shogunatedefined 1rias 36 chō, allowing other variants, and the Japanese government adopted this last definition in 1891. The Japaneseriwas, at that time, fixed to themetric system,216⁄55≈ 3.93kilometresor about 2.44miles.Therefore, one must be careful about the correspondence between chō andri.SeeKujūkuri Beach(99-ribeach) for a case.

InSouth Korea,thericurrently in use is a unit taken from theHan dynasty(206 BC–220 AD)li.It has a value of approximately 392.72 meters, or one tenth of theri.TheAegukga,the national anthem of South Korea, and theAegukka,the national anthem ofNorth Korea,both mention 3,000ri,which roughly corresponds to 1,200km,the approximate longitudinal span of theKorean peninsula.

InNorth KoreatheChollima Movement,a campaign aimed at improving labour productivity along the lines of the earlier SovietStakhanovite movement,gets its name from the word "chollima" which refers to a thousand-rihorse (chŏn + ri + main North Korean Romanization).

References

Citations

^Byron R. Winborn (1994).Wen Bon: a Naval Air Intelligence Officer behind Japanese lines in China.University of North Texas Press. p. 63.ISBN 978-0-929398-77-8.
^^a ^bHulsewé (1961), pp. 206–207.
^Dubs (1938), pp. 276–280; (1955), p. 160, n. 7,

Sources

Homer H. Dubs(1938):The History of the Former Han Dynasty by Pan Ku.Vol. One. Translator and editor: Homer H. Dubs. Baltimore. Waverly Press, Inc.
Homer H. Dubs (1955):The History of the Former Han Dynasty by Pan Ku.Vol. Three. Translator and editor: Homer H. Dubs. Ithaca, New York. Spoken Languages Services, Inc.
Hulsewé, A. F. P.(1961). "Han measures". A. F. P. Hulsewé,T'oung pao Archives,Vol. XLIX, Livre 3, pp. 206–207.
Needham, Joseph.(1986).Science and Civilization in China: Volume 4, Physics and Physical Technology, Part 3, Civil Engineering and Nautics.Taipei: Caves Books Ltd.

[Winborn1994-1] Byron R. Winborn (1994).Wen Bon: a Naval Air Intelligence Officer behind Japanese lines in China.University of North Texas Press. p. 63.ISBN 978-0-929398-77-8.

[Hulsewé_1961,_pp._206–207-2] Hulsewé (1961), pp. 206–207.

[3] Dubs (1938), pp. 276–280; (1955), p. 160, n. 7,

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