Fen (), called fan in Cantonese, hun in Taiwanese, phân in Vietnamese, or "candareen"[a] in English, is a traditional Chinese unit for weight measurement. It originated in China before being introduced to neighboring countries in East Asia. Nowaday, the mass of 1 fen equals 0.5 grams in mainland China,[1] 0.375 grams in Taiwan,[2] 0.37799 grams in Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia,[3][4][5] and 0.378 grams in Vietnam.[6]

Fen is mostly used in the traditional markets, and famous for measuring gold, silver and Chinese medicines.[1]

China Mainland

On June 25, 1959, the State Council of the People's Republic of China issued the "Order on the Unified Measurement System", retaining the market measure system, with minor amendment.[7]

Table of mass units in the People's Republic of China since 1959[1]
PinyinCharacter[8]Relative valueMetric valueImperial valueNotes
lí市厘1⁄10,00050 mg0.001764 ozcash
fēn市分1⁄1000500 mg0.01764 ozcandareen
qián市錢1⁄1005 g0.1764 ozmace or Chinese dram
liǎng市兩1⁄1050 g1.764 oztael or Chinese ounce
jīn市斤1500 g1.102 lbcatty or Chinese pound
formerly 16 liang = 1 jin
dàn市擔10050 kg110.2 lbpicul or Chinese hundredweight

where 1 fen equals 0.5 grams (i.e., 500 mg) and 10 fens equals 1 qian. The traditional Chinese medicine measurement system remains unchanged.[1]

Taiwan

The Taiwanese still followed their own habits and continued to use the old weights and measures of the Qing Dynasty. 1 Taiwan fen is equal to 0.375 grams (375 mg), or 1/10 Taiwan qian.[9]

Table of units of mass in Taiwan
UnitRelative valueMetricUS & ImperialNotes
Taiwanese HokkienHakkaMandarinCharacterLegalDecimalExactApprox.
LîLîLí釐1⁄1000 3⁄80,000 kg37.5 mg3750⁄45,359,237 lb0.5787 grCash; Same as Japanese Rin
HunFûnFēn分1⁄100 3⁄8000 kg375 mg37,500⁄45,359,237 lb5.787 grCandareen; Same as Japanese Fun
ChîⁿChhiènQián錢1⁄10 3⁄800 kg3.75 g375,000⁄45,359,237 lb2.116 drMace; Same as Japanese Momme (匁)
NiúLiôngLiǎng兩1 3⁄80 kg37.5 g3,750,000⁄45,359,237 lb21.16 drTael
Kin/KunKînJīn斤16 3⁄5 kg600 g60,000,000⁄45,359,237 lb1.323 lbCatty; Same as Japanese Kin
TàⁿTâmDàn擔1600 60 kg6,000,000,000⁄45,359,237 lb132.3 lbPicul; Same as Japanese Tan

Hong Kong and Macau

Hong Kong and Macau mass units

In Hong Kong, one fen is equal to 1/10 qian, which is 0.3779936375 grams, or 377.9936375 mg.[3]

Table of Chinese mass units in Hong Kong[3] and Macau[10]
JyutpingCharacterEnglishPortugueseRelative valueRelation to the Traditional Chinese Units (Macau)Metric valueImperial valueNotes
lei4厘li (cash)liz1⁄16,0001⁄10 condorim37.79931 mg0.02133 dr
fan1分fen (fan, candareen) condorim1⁄16001⁄10 maz377.9936375 mg0.2133 dr
cin4錢qian (mace, tsin)maz1⁄1601⁄10 tael3.779936375 g2.1333 dr
loeng2兩liang (leung, tael)tael1⁄161⁄16 cate37.79936375 g1.3333 oz604.78982/16=37.79936375
gan1斤jin (gan, catty)cate11⁄100 pico604.78982 g1.3333 lbHong Kong and Macau share the definition.
daam3擔dan, (tam, dan)pico100None60.478982 kg133.3333 lbHong Kong and Macau share the definition.

Similarly, Singapore law stipulates that one fen equals 0.37799 g. Malaysia has the same regulations as it is a former British colony as well.[4]

Hong Kong troy units

These are used for trading precious metals such as gold and silver.

Table of mass (Hong Kong troy) units[11]
EnglishCharacterRelative valueMetric valueImperial valueNotes
fen (candareen) troy金衡分1⁄100374.29 mg0.096 drt
qian (mace) troy金衡錢1⁄103.7429 g0.96 drt
liang (tael) troy金衡兩137.429 g1.2 ozt

Vietnam

In Vietnam, the unit of fen is called "phân": 1 phân is equal to 0.38 grams or 10 ly by traditional value.[6]

Early 20th-century units of weight
Name in Chữ Quốc ngữHán/Nôm nameTraditional valueTraditional conversionModern valueModern conversion
tấn擯604.5 kg10 tạ1 000 kg10 tạ
quân[12]302.25 kg5 tạ500 kgobsolete
tạ榭60.45 kg10 yến100 kg10 yến
bình[12]30.225 kg5 yến50 kgobsolete
yến6.045 kg10 cân10 kg10 cân
cân斤604.5 g16 lạng1 kg10 lạng
nén378 g10 lạng
lạng兩37.8 g10 đồng100 g
đồng or tiền錢3.78 g10 phân
phân分0.38 g10 ly
ly or li厘37.8 mg10 hào
hào毫3.8 mg10 ti
ti絲0.4 mg10 hốt
hốt忽0.04 mg10 vi
vi微0.004 mg

For more information on the Chinese mass measurement system, please see article Jin (mass).

See also

Notes

  1. ^ "candareen" is a borrowing from Malay "kandūri", which is translation of the Chinese measure word "分" before Chinese Pinyin and Jyutping were available for direct transcription.[13]

References

  1. ^ (in Chinese) 1959 Gazette of the State Council of the People's Republic of China, No. 180, pages 311 to 312
  2. ^ Weights and Measures in Use in Taiwan Archived 2010-12-29 at the Wayback Machine from the Republic of China Yearbook – Taiwan 2001.
  3. ^ "Weights and Measures Ordinance". Laws of Hong Kong
  4. ^ "Weights and Measures Act". Statutes of the Republic of Singapore
  5. ^ "Weights and Measures Act 1972". Laws of Malaysia. Archived from the original on 2014-02-01.
  6. ^ "Vietnam, units of mass". Sizes. Sizes, Inc. 2005-12-28.
  7. ^ "国务院关于统一我国计量制度的命令 (Order of the State Council on unifying my country's measurement system)". Archived 2010-12-06 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2015-01-12.
  8. ^ (in Chinese) 1959 Gazette of the State Council of the People's Republic of China, No. 180, page 316
  9. ^ Andrade, Tonio (2005). "Appendix A: Weights, Measures, and Exchange Rates". How Taiwan Became Chinese: Dutch, Spanish, and Han Colonization in the Seventeenth Century. Columbia University Press.
  10. ^ Law No. 14/92/M ((in Chinese) 第14/92/M號法律; (in Portuguese) Lei n.o 14/92/M)
  11. ^ Cap. 68 WEIGHTS AND MEASURES ORDINANCE
  12. ^ Manuel de conversation française-annamite [French-Annamite conversation manual] (in French). Saigon: Imprimerie de la Mission. 1911. pp. 175–178.
  13. ^ "Oxford English Dictionary"