Measurement Systems | Research & Encyclopedia Articles

Metrology, the science of measurement, evaluates how people assess quantities. People throughout Asia devised indigenous measurement systems or adopted foreign measurement units to describe quantities representing thephysical size, capacities, or proportion of materials or areas. Precise, reliable measurements are crucial for governmental, legal, professional, domestic, and public needs; they ensure accurate communications and quality control.

In Asian countries, various units were developed to describe length, width, distance, circumference, and thickness. Units signify the mass, weight, volume, and density of solids and liquids. Movement is measured by velocity, force, and pressure. Energy is depicted by power units. Time, temperature, and humidity measurements provide information about duration and climate. The World Meteorological Organization oversees pollution-measurement systems to evaluate Asian environmental conditions.

Early Asians measured portions, magnitudes, and distances based on the adult male body, such as limb and digit lengths or the area one person could travel or work in one day. The cubit represented the measurement from the middle fingertip to the elbow, and the palm signified the width of an outstretched hand. These measurements were imprecise because of the variation of individuals' size, speed, and endurance. Traders often encountered difficulties because of cultural measurement differences, varying terms, and changing definitions for units. The catty, a unit that measured tea and rice, had numerous sizes throughout Asia.

The ancient Chinese emperors Qin Shi Huangdi (c. 259–210 BCE) and Wang Mang (45 BCE–23 CE) initiated measurement-standardization reform. Some units became obsolete as new measurements were created. Over time, most Asian countries converted local units in favor of modern measurement systems. Many Asians, however, continue to refer to traditional measurement units unique to their geographical regions.

In Singapore, Hong Kong, India, and the Philippines, both traditional (man and tola) and British (feet-pound system) units are routinely used in many herbal and pawn markets and in property management. Rural Indonesians often use traditional measurements during grain harvests. Such Korean units as ri (length), kun (weight), mal (volume), and pyong (area) are retained. Malaysian jewelry shops rely on traditional units, and buildings are measured by feet. In modern Thailand, weight is sometimes referred to by picul and land area as amount of rai.

Asian time measurements differ from other countries. In Afghanistan, India, Myanmar (Burma), Iran, French Polynesia, and Sri Lanka, time is offset by half-hour increments from other areas; thus when it is 10:30 a.m. in Thailand, it is 8 a.m. in Afghanistan. Sources do not list any time measurement units unique to Asia except that the kalpa, in the Hindu calendar, equals about 4.32 billion years. Also, Asian calendars are often measured by periods of time based on the reigns of emperors or leaders. Chinese years have names that are used in sixty-year cycles. These names have a celestial stem such as bing and a terrestrial branch, represented by types of animals such as the tiger, rat, dragon, and so forth.

Asian calendars reflect different measuring systems to designate year numbers, based on religious beliefs and varying annual cycles. Asian years are sometimes measured as tropical or sidereal, based on seasonal or celestial cycles. Seasons divide the year into three or fewer phases according to weather patterns of rain and heat. The dates of holidays such as Ramadan (the Islamic month of fasting), and Loy Krathong (the Thai flower boat festival) are variable because they depend on time measurement based on moon phases and periods of darkness and daylight.

During the twentieth century, Asian countries adopted the metric system, which aided the achievement of global measurement standardization, especially in scientific endeavors, regardless of language and cultural differences. The Philippines, Afghanistan, and Cambodia began converting in the early twentieth century. By mid-century, Iran, Iraq, Turkey, Thailand, Indonesia, and Korea became metric. From the 1950s to the 1970s, Taiwan, India, Japan, Laos, Vietnam, Pakistan, and Singapore accepted the metric system. Myanmar is the only Asian country that has not officially adopted the metric system. The International Bureau of Weights and Measures coordinates traditional measurement systems unique to countries and cultures and national metrology institutes with international metrology standards.

Most Asian countries accept fundamental metric units including kilograms (mass), seconds (time), liters (volume), Celsius (temperature), and amperes (electromagnetic), from which other metric units were derived. Greek and Latin prefixes indicate larger and smaller quantities, which have been incorporated in the international system of units (SI) adopted in 1960 by the General Conference of Weights and Measures. All measurements are interrelated with seven base SI units: meter, kilogram, second, ampere, kelvin, candela, and mol. Because 99 percent of the world is metric, the metric system facilitates competitive trade between countries that might refuse to import goods that are not issued in metric dimensions and that are incompatible with other devices, machinery, and tools. The CGS system used in parts of Asia refers to the measurement of small quantities by centimeters, grams, and seconds.

In 1875, a Meter Convention was held, and the Ottoman empire was one of the participants, but Turkey did not pursue metrification until a 1931 law of weights and measures initiated gradual implementation. By 1992, TUBITAK, the Scientific and Technical Research Council of Turkey, established the National Metrology Institute.

A 1908 Chinese imperial law recommended that traditional measures be redefined according to the metric system. Because metric terms consisted of unfamiliar words and sounds, the Chinese were reluctant to accept that system. In 1959, the metric reform of the People's Republic of China retained traditional unit names and adjusted them to metric dimensions.

An 1891 Japanese law recognized the shaku and kan as traditional length and mass measurement units, respectively, and by 1909 three measurement systems— traditional, British, and metric—were used. During the 1920s, legislation implemented plans for a single metric system. Public resistance, World War II, and the Allied occupation delayed efforts until a 1958 law. By 1981, Japan was completely metric with the exception of sake bottles, which were assessed by a traditional unit, and Japanese-style houses, which are still described by traditional dimensions.

Elizabeth D. Schafer

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