Kin (a unit of weight in the East Asia system of weights and measures) (斤)
Kin (Catty) is a weight unit in the East Asian system of weights and measures. Traditionally, 1 kin has been equalized with 16 ryo (a unit of weight), but the conversion rate differs from place to place.
In Japan
In Japan, 1 kin, 16 ryo, and 160 monme (momme; a unit of weight) are commonly equalized with each other. In the Meiji period, 1 monme was set at 3.75 grams, so 1 kin became 600 grams.
In addition, various sizes of 'kin' were used for different things to be weighed. The unit name karame was used for 1 kin equivalent to 160 monme, yamatome for 1 kin to 180 monme, ome for 1 kin to 200 monme, shirome for 1 kin to 230 monme, and yamame for 1 kin to 250 monme. And for foreign goods, 1 kin was equalized with 120 monme (450 grams), since it was nearly equal to 1 pound (453.6 grams), which was called eikin (British kin). Today, 'kin' is used only as the weight unit of a loaf of bread in Japan, which originated from the British catty. But today, 1 kin of bread commonly weighs from 350 to 400 grams, which is less than 1 eikin, and the fair competition codes just prescribes that 1 kin should be more than 340 grams.
In Taiwan
In the past, Taiwan had the age of the rule of the Japanese Empire, when Japanese system of weights and measures influenced that of Taiwanese, so here, 1 kin is equivalent to 600 grams as in Japan.
In Hong Kong
In Hong Kong, 1 kin is equivalent to 604.78982 grams, called 'shima kin' (sima jin). Set in the agreement concluded between the Qing Dynasty and other countries on units for trade, the unit of shima kin is still used today, and 1 shima kin is equal to 1 pound that is standardized in the yard-pound system. Also, kati, a unit originated from the English word catty, is used in Southeast Asia.
100 kin is equalized with 1 picul, and 120 kin is equalized with 1 koku (picul and koku are both weight units).
In People's Republic of China
In People's Republic of China, 1 kin (catty) was kept equal to 16 ryo (tael) for long, but under the present Chinese system of weights and measures, 1 kin (shi-kin) is equalized with 1 ryo (shi-ryo), and 1 shi-kin is set at 500 grams. And the unit of kilogram is called 'ko-kin' (public catty).