Tan (担) (a unit of weight) (担)
Tan (the letter 擔 was used in Yuan) was a unit of weight (mass) under the Chinese shakkanho (the system of measuring length by the shaku and weight by the kan) (shakusekiho, Chinese traditional system of measurement [unit system], Taiwanese traditional system of measurement).
Tan was originally defined as the weight which a single laborer could carry (to shoulder) at one time. Currently one tan is defined as 100 kin, and it is equivalent to exactly 50 kg in the mainland China, 60.478982 kg in Hong Kong and exactly 60 kg in Taiwan respectively.
It was originally a conventional unit, but it became the official one in the era of Qing when the Qing dynasty concluded the treaty on units with foreign countries for the purpose of foreign trade. At the time, tan was defined as follows.
One tang
Pound (mass) (the imperial system of units)
60.478982 kg (the metric system)
120 Fund (German weights and measures)
Tan which is used in Hong Kong today derived from the above definition. Hong Kong's tan is called picul in English, and the same unit is used in the Southeast Asia region.
AS one kin was determined equivalent to 500 g in the mainland China, one tan is equivalent to 50 kg. One kin came to equivalent to 600 g and one tan came to equivalent to 60 kg in Taiwan, because its measuring system was affected by the Japanese shakkanho during the Period of Japanese Rule (Taiwan).