SC - Chinese measurements was Cow's Milk Buns

[Craig Jones.]

Thanks,

That was me.  I now have the info several times.

Cheers,

Drake.

ps.  A local butcher rang me yesterday and said he could get Lamb's Plucks for
about $US7 ea.  A Puck is the Heart, Lungs, & Liver joined by the viscera. 
There are several recipes I want to try in ASFTQ that contain lungs as an
ingredient.  I'm still yet to find testers though...

>I'm having one of those days.  I just found the posts about which
>someone enquired, and now I can't remember who just asked.  Oh well.
>Here are the answers.
>
>In a post titled "SC-Cow's Milk Buns" 3/20/2001:
>
>Drakey wrote:
> Also, does anyone know what the following
>measurements are: chin, sheng, liang?
>
>I've been ok when all the measurements are the same
>(so I can do things by proportions) but am stumpted
>when the measurements are all separate.  I combed
> 'A Soup for the Qan' with no luck.
>
>Adamantius responded:
>
>Comb to page 172 of "A Soup for the Qan", where you will see the
>following translator's note:
>
>"Note on Weights and Measures. In the translation below we have made no
>attempt to translate Chinese weights and measures. The following
>equivalents must be borne in mind when interpreting the recipes: a
>ch'ien is today 3.12 g or .011 oz and is one-tenth of a liang. Sixteen
>liang make a chin (about 500 g). A sheng is today 31.5 cu in (slightly
>less in the fourteenth century), and is comprised of 10 ho (each 3.17 cu
>
>in). Ten sheng make a tou. Units of length relevant to the translation
>are the ts'un, which is 33 mm and the ch'ih, ten ts'un, or about a third
>
>of a meter."
>
>It looks to me that there may be a typo in ASFTQ: if "g" = grams, then a
>
>ch'ien of 3.12 grams would be roughly 0.11 oz, not .011 oz, and a liang
>would be roughly equivalent to an ounce, while a chin would equal
>approximately a pound. Unless "g" is supposed to denote "grains", as
>Cariadoc suggested may be the case, in which case you're on your own,
>boyo. It's late here... .
>
>As for the sheng, you could make one for dry measure out of cardboard,
>and maybe waxed for wet use, essentially a box with no top, 3" x 3"
>x3.5", or, let's see... 7.6 x 7.6 x 9 cm, in case it matters.
>
>I know... I could swear... I just know, somewhere, there is, or was, on
>the Web, a Table of Weights and Measures with sections on ancient
>Chinese, Indian, etc., weights and measures, not to mention medieval and
>
>early modern European ones. Of course, now I can't find it.
>
>Bear responded with:
>
>The following are from "How Many?  A Dictionary of Units of Measurement"
>
>webbed at:
>
>http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/units/index.html
>
>
>sheng
>a traditional unit of liquid volume in China. Like the Indian seer (see
>above), the sheng is a little more than a liter; 1.035 liter (1.094 U.S.
>
>quart) is one quoted equivalent.
>
>chin
>one of several spellings in English for the jin, a traditional Chinese
>weight unit.
>
>jin
>a traditional unit of weight in China, comparable to the English pound.
>During the European colonial era the jin was identified with the catty,
>a
>Malay unit widely used in various forms throughout East and Southeast
>Asia.
>Like the catty, the jin was then equal to 1 1/3 pounds or 604.79 grams.
>Traditionally, it was divided into 16 liang. In modern China, however,
>the
>jin has been identified as a metric unit equal to exactly 500 grams
>(1.1023
>pounds), and it is divided into 10 liang. The spellings chin and gin
>also
>have been used for this unit.
>
>liang
>a traditional Chinese weight unit. During the European colonial period
>the
>liang was equal to 1/16 catty, 1/12 pound, or about 37.8 grams; this
>made
>it the same as a tael. In modern China, the liang equals 1/10 jin or 10
>qian;
>this is exactly 50 grams (1.7637 ounces).
>
>-=-=-=-=-
>
>Yours in service, Selene
>
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