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Mu (land)

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The mu (simplified Chinese: 亩; traditional Chinese: 畝; pinyin: mǔ) in Mandarin, mau or mou in Cantonese, or bo in Taiwanese, also called a Chinese acre, is a traditional Chinese unit of measurement for land area. One mu equals 666 and 2/3 square meters in China mainland, 761.4 square meters in Hong Kong and Macau, and 99.17 square meters in Taiwan. In the Mainland, mu is the only Chinese area unit legally retained. [1][2][3] [4] [5]

Mainland

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On 7 January 1915, the Beiyang government promulgated a measurement law to use not only the metric system as the standard but also a set of Chinese measurement units based directly on the Qing dynasty definitions (營造尺庫平制).[6]

Table of Chinese area units promulgated in 1915[6]
Pinyin Character Relative value Metric value Imperial value Notes
háo 毫 1⁄1000 0.6144 m2 0.7348 sq yd
lí 釐 (T) or 厘 (S)[a] 1⁄100 6.144 m2 7.348 sq yd
fēn 分 1⁄10 61.44 m2 73.48 sq yd
mǔ 畝 (T) or 亩 (S) 1 614.4 m2 734.82 sq yd Chinese acre, or 60 square zhang
qǐng 頃 (T) or 顷 (S) 100 6.144 ha 15.18 acre Chinese hide

where mu is the basic unit of area measurement.

On 16 February 1929, the Nationalist government promulgated The Weights and Measures Act[7] to adopt the metric system as the official standard and to limit the newer Chinese units of measurement to private sales and trade in Article 11, effective on 1 January 1930. These newer "market" units are based on rounded metric numbers.[1] [4]

Table of Chinese area units effective in 1930[1]
Pinyin Character Relative value Metric value Imperial value Notes
háo 毫 1⁄1000 2⁄3 m2 7.18 sq ft
lí 釐 (T) or 厘 (S) 1⁄100 6+2⁄3 m2 7.973 sq yd
fēn 市分 1⁄10 66+2⁄3 m2 79.73 sq yd
mǔ 畝 (T) or 亩 (S) 1 666+2⁄3 m2 797.3 sq yd
0.1647 acre 		one mu (Chinese acre)
=6000 square chi
=60 square zhang
=1/15 of a hectare
qǐng 頃 (T) or 顷 (S) 100 6+2⁄3 ha 16.47 acre Chinese hide

And mu remains the base unit.

In mainland China, mu is the only area unit retained after the traditional Chinese measurement system was discontinued in the "Decree of the State Council Concerning the Use of Uniform Legal Measures in the Country" promulgated in 1959. Now the Chinese measurement system stipulates that 1 mu is equal to 60 square zhang, which is approximately equal to 666.67 square meters; 15 mu is equal to 1 hectare; 1 square kilometer is equal to 1500 mu. [8] [5]

Macau

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In Macau, mu is also the basic area unit of Chinese measurement. One mu is defined as 761.4 square meters. On 24 August 1992, Macau published Law No. 14/92/M that Chinese units of measurement similar to those used in Hong Kong, Imperial units, and United States customary units would be permissible for five years since the effective date of the Law, 1 January 1993, on the condition of indicating the corresponding International System of Units (SI) values, then for three more years thereafter, Chinese, Imperial, and US units would be permissible as secondary to the SI.[2]

Table of Chinese area units in Macau[2]
Jyutping Portuguese Character Relative value Relation to the Traditional Chinese Units (Macau) Metric value Imperial value
cek3 côvado 尺 1⁄6000 1⁄25鋪 0.1269 m2 1.366 sq ft
pou3 鋪 1⁄240 1⁄4丈 3.1725 m2 34.15 sq ft
3.794 sq yd
zoeng6 braça 丈 1⁄60 1⁄6分 12.69 m2 136.6 sq ft
15.18 sq yd
fan1 condorim 分 1⁄10 1⁄10畝 76.14 m2 91.06 sq yd
mau5 maz 畝 (T) or 亩 (S) 1 None 761.4 m2 910.6 sq yd

Hong Kong

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The Chinese units of measurement used in Hong Kong are similar to those used in Macau. In 1976 the Hong Kong Metrication Ordinance allowed a gradual replacement of the system in favor of the SI metric system.[9] The Weights and Measures Ordinance defines the metric, Imperial, and Chinese units.[10] As of 2012, all three systems are legal for trade and are in widespread use.

The standard commercial measure of real estate area is in square feet of the Imperial system. Apartment or office size is generally still given in square feet. However, square metres are used for official purposes.

The traditional units of agricultural land area are the mau or mou (Cantonese for mu, a unit used throughout China) and the local dau chung (斗種). Notionally the two units are defined differently, with the dau chung being the amount of land which could be planted by one dau (斗) of rice; in practice the area of one dau chung is roughly equal to one mau.[11] [4]

Taiwan

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In Taiwan, the principal unit for measuring the floor space of an office or apartment is 坪 (Taiwanese Hokkien: pêⁿ,[12] Hakka: phiàng, Mandarin: píng). The unit is derives from the Japanese tsubo, the base unit of the Japanese area. The principal unit of land measure is 甲 (Taiwanese Hokkien: kah, Hakka: kap, Mandarin: jiǎ). The unit is derived from the obsolete Dutch morgen, which was introduced during Taiwan's Dutch era.

Taiwanese mu is derived from Japanese se, i.e., equals one Japanese se or 30 ping.

Table of area units used in Taiwan [3]
Unit Pêⁿ Kah Metric US & Imperial Notes
Taiwanese Hokkien Hakka Mandarin Character Exact Approx. Exact Approx.
Pêⁿ[13] Phiàng Píng 坪 1 ⁠400/121⁠ m2 3.306 m2 ⁠625,000,000/158,080,329⁠ sq yd 35.58 sq ft Same as Japanese Tsubo
Bó͘ Méu Mǔ 畝 30  ⁠12,000/121⁠ m2 99.17 m2 ⁠6,250,000,000/52,693,443⁠ sq yd 1,067 sq ft Same as Japanese Se
Hun Fûn Fēn 分 293.4 1⁄10 ⁠117360/121⁠ m2 969.92 m2 — 10,440 sq ft
Kah Kap Jiǎ 甲 2,934 1 ⁠1173600/121⁠ m2 0.9699 ha — 2.3967 acres Derived from Dutch Morgen
Lê Lài Lí 犁 14,670 5 ⁠5868000/121⁠ m2 4.8496 ha — 11.984 acres Used from Kingdom of Tungning

Officially, land area is measured in square metres.[14]

Mu, Acre and are

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There are three area units whose Chinese names include character 畝: 市畝, 英畝 and 公畝. Their meanings and conversions are as follows:[15]

  • 市畝 (Chinese mu; character-by-character translation: "market mu"): Or simply called mu, is a traditional Chinese unit of measure, roughly equals 667 square meters in Mainland China.
  • 英畝 (acre, "British mu"): A British Imperial unit, about 4,047 square meters or 0.405 hectares.
  • 公畝 (are, "common mu"): Part of the metric system, equivalent to 100 square meters.[15]

1 Chinese mu =6.667 ares = 0.164 acre.[15]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ T: Traditional Chinese, S: Simplified Chinese

References

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  1. ^ a b c "The Weights and Measures Act (1929)". Legislative Yuan. Archived from the original on 2014-04-25.
  2. ^ a b c Law No. 14/92/M ((in Chinese) 第14/92/M號法律; (in Portuguese) Lei n.o 14/92/M)
  3. ^ a b "Weights and Measures in Use in the ROC". Taiwan: Government Information Office. 2001.
  4. ^ a b c Britannica (2004-04-29). "mou: Chinese unit of measurement". Encyclopedia Britannica.
  5. ^ a b Language Institute, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (2020). 新华字典 （附录：计量单位简表）(Xinhua Dictionary (Appendix: Brief table of measurement units)) (in Chinese) (12th ed.). Beijing: The Commercial Press. pp. 695–697. ISBN 978-7-100-17093-2.
  6. ^ a b "權度法 [Quándù Fǎ]", 政府公報 [Zhèngfǔ Gōngbào, Government Gazette], vol. 957, Beijing: Office of the President, 7 January 1915, pp. 85–94[permanent dead link]. (in Chinese)
  7. ^ "The Weights and Measures Act: Legislative History". Ministry of Justice (Republic of China).
  8. ^ Decree of the State Council Concerning the Use of Uniform Legal Measures in the Country Archived 2015-04-09 at the Wayback Machine
  9. ^ Yearbook HK. "Yearbook." Metrication. Retrieved on 26 April 2007.
  10. ^ Cap. 68 WEIGHTS AND MEASURES ORDINANCE
  11. ^ Potter, Jack M. (1968). Capitalism and the Chinese Peasant: Social and Economic Change in a Hong Kong Village. University of California Press. p. 62. ISBN 0520010248.
  12. ^ In Taiwanese Hokkien, 坪 is also pronounced pîⁿ, phêⁿ, phîⁿ, phiâⁿ, phêng depends on the accents.
  13. ^ In Taiwanese Hokkien, 坪 is also pronounced pîⁿ, phêⁿ, phîⁿ, phiâⁿ, phêng depends on the accents.
  14. ^ 《中華民國統計資訊網》縣市重要統計指標查詢系統網 (in Chinese). Retrieved 25 July 2016.
  15. ^ a b c Language Institute, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (2016). 现代汉语词典 (附錄：計量單位表) [Contemporary Chinese Dictionary (Appendix: Measure units)] (in Chinese) (7th ed.). Beijing: Commercial Press. p. 1790. ISBN 978-7-100-12450-8.
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