Research on the newfound inscriptive measuring vessels and the measurement system of medicines of the Han dynasty

Abstract

The standard of weights and measures of medicines in the Han Dynasty has always been an important topic in the study of the ancient Chinese medical history. However, the difference of titles and systems of measurement units recorded in different literature are quite diverse and short of material evidences for a long time, leading to a long debate on the research of ancient measuring system of medicines. The titles in the newly announcing inscriptions of a series of the measuring system of dosages of Eastern Han Dynasty, carried on the 4 containers are ge, yue, cuo and dao gui, confirming the measuring system of the Han Dynasty for the first time. Through actual measurement, the numerical values of ge, yue, cuo, dao gui are 20ml, 10ml, 2ml, and 0.5 ml respectively, and the calculating equation are: 1 ge = 2 yue, 1 yue = 5 cuo, 1 cuo = 4 dao gui. These values were basically the same as the official measuring containers of the Han Dynasty, demonstrating that the official weights and measures system for medicines was adopted by the Eastern Han Dynasty. The appearance of the new measuring tool, fang cun bi (square-inch-spoon), reveals its actual morphology which is frequently mentioned in the Han-Tang's classical recipes yet unable to witness this actual object. This measuring system is significant to the studies of ancient weights and measures of medicines.