Cun (unit)

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Short description: Chinese unit of length


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Cun
Wooden Ruler.jpg
Wooden ruler of the western Han dynasty, unearthed at Jinguan Pass Site in Jinta County
General information
Unit systemChinese unit
Unit oflength
Conversions
1 cun in ...... is equal to ...
   metric (SI) units   1/30 m
 ~33.33 mm
   imperial/US units   ~0.10936 ft
 ~1.3123 in
Tsun
Hong Kong ruler close-up 002.jpg
A section of an old Hong Kong ruler, showing the last (10th) cun of a chi. One can see that the chi in that jurisdiction was exactly equal to 14+5/8 of an inch. A metric ruler is shown next to it for comparison
General information
Unit systemChinese unit
Unit oflength
Conversions
1 tsun in ...... is equal to ...
   metric (SI) units   0.0371475 m
 ~37.15 mm
   imperial/US units   0.121875 ft
1+37/80 in
Sun
Unit systemJapanese unit
Unit oflength
Conversions
1 sun in ...... is equal to ...
   metric (SI) units   133 m
 ~30.30 mm
   imperial/US units   ~0.099419 ft
 ~1.1930 in

A cun (Chinese: ts'wun), often glossed as the Chinese inch, is a traditional Chinese unit of length. Its traditional measure is the width of a person's thumb at the knuckle, whereas the width of the two forefingers denotes 1.5 cun and the width of four fingers (except the thumb) side-by-side is 3 cuns.[1] It continues to be used to chart acupuncture points on the human body, and, in various uses for traditional Chinese medicine.

The cun was part of a larger decimal system. A cun was made up of 10 fen, which depending on the period approximated lengths or widths of millet grains,[2] and represented one-tenth of a chi ("Chinese foot").[3] In time the lengths were standardized, although to different values in different jurisdictions. (See chi (unit) for details.)

In Hong Kong, using the traditional standard, it measures ~3.715 cm (~1.463 in) and is written "tsun".[4] In the twentieth century in the Republic of China, the lengths were standardized to fit with the metric system, and in current usage in People's Republic of China and Taiwan[citation needed] it measures ​3 13 cm (~1.312 in).

In Japan, the corresponding unit, sun (), was standardized at ​100033 mm (~3.030 cm, ~1.193 in, or ~0.09942 ft).

See also

References

External links