Editing Tael

{{short description|Traditional Asian unit of mass}}
{{other uses|Tael (disambiguation)}}
{{distinguish|Liang (mass)}}
{{Merge from|Liang (mass)|discuss=Talk:Tael#Proposed merge of Liang (mass) into Tael|date=May 2025}}
{{Infobox Chinese
|title='''Tael'''
|t=兩
|s=两
|p=liǎng
|w=liang
|j=loeng5
|y=léuhng
|poj=niú, nió•
|kanji=両
|hiragana=りょう(hist. りゃう)
|romaji=ryō
|hangul=량 ([[North Korea|N]])/냥 ([[South Korea|S]])
|hanja=兩
|rr=ryang (N) / nyang (S)
|vie=lượng, lạng
|hn={{linktext|兩}}
|ind=tahil
|msa=tahil / تهيل ([[Jawi alphabet|Jawi]])
|mon=лан
|mong=ᠯᠠᠨ
|monr=lan
|mnc=ᠶᠠᠨ
|mnc_v=yan
|lang2=Buryat
|lang2_content=лан
|lang1=txg
|lang-content1={{Tangut|𗍬}}
|lang-hdr1=Tangut name
|lang-rom1=2lu3
|lang-std1=[[Marc Miyake|Miyake]] transcription
|khm=តាល
}}

[[File:ThoughtToBeTael-tkb22516.jpg|thumb|right|195px|(Coin's diameter c. 2.5 cm)]]

'''Tael'''<!--Chinese in infoboxes; see WP:MOS-ZH--> ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|t|eɪ|l}} {{respell|TAYL}}),<ref name=OED>[http://dictionary.oed.com/cgi/entry/50246079 "Tael" entry] at the [[OED Online]].</ref> or '''liang''', also known as the '''tahil''' and by [[#Names|other names]], can refer to any one of several [[weight]] [[units of measurement|measures]] used in [[East Asia|East]] and [[Southeast Asia]]. It usually refers to the [[China|Chinese]] tael, a part of the [[Chinese units of measurement|Chinese system of weights]] and [[currency]]. The Chinese tael was standardized to 50 grams in 1959.

In [[Hong Kong]] and [[Singapore]], it is equivalent to 10 [[mace (unit)|mace]] ({{lang-zh | c=錢| hp=qián| l=|links=no}}) or {{frac|16}} [[catty]],<ref name = "hk_law"/><ref name="sg_law">{{cite web|url=https://sso.agc.gov.sg/Act/WMA1975#Sc3-|title=Weights and Measures Act (CHAPTER 349) Third Schedule|work=Singapore Statutes|publisher=Government of Singapure|access-date=2 July 2021}}</ref> albeit with slightly different metric equivalents in these two places. These [[Chinese units of measurement]] are usually used in [[Chinese herbal medicine]] stores as well as gold and silver exchange.

{{anchor|Name|Etymology|Nomenclature}}

== Names ==

The English word ''tael'' comes through [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]] from the [[Malay language|Malay]] word {{lang|ms|tahil}}, meaning "weight". Early English forms of the name such as "tay" or "taes" derive from the Portuguese plural of tael, {{lang|pt|taeis}}.

'''Tahil''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|t|ɑː|h|ɪ|l}} in [[Singaporean English]])<ref>[http://www.singlishdictionary.com/singlish_T.htm#tahil "Tahil" entry] at A Dictionary of Singlish and Singapore English.</ref> is used in Malay ''and'' English today when referring to the weight in [[Malaysia]], [[Singapore]], and [[Brunei]], where it is still used in some contexts especially related to the significant [[Overseas Chinese]] population.

In Chinese, tael is written {{lang|zh-Hant|{{linktext|兩}}}} (simplified as {{lang|zh-Hans|{{linktext|两}}}}) and has the [[Standard Chinese|Mandarin]] pronunciation ''liǎng''. The phrase "half a catty, eight taels" {{nowrap|({{lang-zh|{{linktext|半斤八兩}}}},}} ''bàn jīn, bā liǎng'') is still used to mean two options are exactly equivalent, similar to the English "six of one, half a dozen of the other".

== Historical usage ==
[[File:Chinese_Silver_Liang_with_Stamps_used_in_Central_Asia_as_Silver-Hoff-Ingot.jpg|thumb|A Chinese silver liǎng (銀兩 / 银两) with stamps Used in Central Asia as a "Silver Hoof" ingot.]]
[[File:後藤分銅1.jpg|thumb|right|300px|[[Japan]]ese [[Edo period|Edo era]] tael weights for [[Weighing scale#Mechanical balances|balance scales]], made of [[bronze]]. In descending size, 30, 20, 10, 5, 4, 3, and 2 tael weights.]]

In China, there were many different weighting standards of tael depending on the region or type of trade. In general the [[silver]] tael weighed around {{convert|40|g|ozt}}. The most common government measure was the ''Kuping'' ({{lang-zh|c=庫平|hp=kùpíng|l=treasury standard|labels=no}}) tael, weighing {{convert|37.5|g|ozt}}. A common commercial weight, the ''Caoping'' ({{lang-zh|c=漕平| hp=cáopíng| l=canal shipping standard|labels=no}}) tael weighed {{convert|36.7|g|ozt}} of marginally less pure silver.

As in China, other parts of East Asia such as [[Japan]] and [[Korea]] have also used the tael ({{CJK|j=両|r=ryō|rr=nyang/ryang|k=량/냥 (兩)}}) as both a unit of weight and, by extension, a currency.

=== Tael currency ===
==== Imperial China ====
Traditional Chinese silver [[sycee]]s and other currencies of fine metals were not denominated or made by a central [[Mint (coin)|mint]] and their value was determined by their weight in taels. They were made by individual silversmiths for local exchange, and as such the shape and amount of extra detail on each ingot were highly variable; square and oval shapes were common but "boat", flower, tortoise and others are known. The tael was still used in [[Qing dynasty coinage]] as the basis of the silver currency and sycee remained in use until the end of the dynasty in 1911. Common weights were 50, 10, 5 and one tael. Before the year 1840 the government of the [[Qing dynasty]] had set the official exchange rate between silver [[sycee]]s and copper-alloy [[Cash (Chinese coin)|cash coins]] was set at 1,000 ''[[Chinese cash (currency unit)|wén]]'' for 1 tael of silver before 1820, but after the year 1840 this official exchange rate was double to 2,000 ''wén'' to 1 tael.<ref name="LondonSchoolOfEconomicsXunYan">{{cite web|url= http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/3307/1/Yan_In_Search_of_Power.pdf|title= In Search of Power and Credibility - Essays on Chinese Monetary History (1851-1845).|date=March 2015|access-date=8 February 2020|author= Xun Yan|publisher= Department of Economic History, [[London School of Economics|London School of Economics and Political Science]]|language=en}}</ref>

During the reign of the [[Xianfeng Emperor]], the government of the Qing dynasty was forced to re-introduce [[Paper money of the Qing dynasty|paper money]], among the paper money it produced were the [[Hubu Guanpiao]] (戶部官票) silver notes that were denominated in taels.<ref name="QingPaperMoney">{{cite web|url= http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Terms/money-qing-baochao.html|title= Qing Period Paper Money.|date=13 April 2016|access-date=27 March 2019|author= Ulrich Theobald|publisher= [[Chinaknowledge]].de|language=en}}</ref><ref name="SandrockSilverTaelNotes">{{cite web|url= http://thecurrencycollector.com/pdfs/Ching_Dynasty_Silver_Tael_Notes_-_Part_III.pdf|title=IMPERIAL CHINESE CURRENCY OF THE TAI'PING REBELLION - PART III - CH'ING DYNASTY SILVER TAEL NOTES by John E. Sandrock.|date=1997|access-date=29 June 2019|author= John E. Sandrock|publisher= The Currency Collector.|language=en}}</ref>

The forced opening of China during the Qing dynasty created a number of [[treaty port]]s alongside the China's main waterways and its coastal areas, these treaty ports would fundamentally change both the [[History of Chinese currency|monetary system of China]] as well as its [[History of banking in China|banking system]], these changes were introduced by the establishment of [[Europe]]an and [[United States|American]] merchant houses and later banks that would engage in the Chinese money exchange and trade finance.<ref name="LondonSchoolOfEconomicsDebinMa">{{cite web|url= http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/41940/1/WP159.pdf|title= Money and Monetary System in China in the 19th-20th Century: An Overview. (Working Papers No. 159/12)|date=January 2012|access-date=26 January 2020|author= Debin Ma|publisher= Department of Economic History, [[London School of Economics]]|language=en}}</ref>

Between the years 1840 and 1900, 1 market tael was worth 1.38 [[Spanish dollar]]s.<ref name="LondonSchoolOfEconomicsXunYan"/>

Various Western banking companies, the largest of which were the [[HSBC]], and later [[Japanese Empire|Japanese]] banking companies started to begin to accept deposits. They would issue banknotes which were convertible into silver; these banknotes were popularized among the Chinese public that resided in the treaty ports.<ref name="LondonSchoolOfEconomicsDebinMa"/>

An important development during this era was the establishment of the [[Chinese Maritime Customs Service|Imperial Maritime Customs Service]]. This agency was placed in charge of collecting transit taxes for traded goods that were shipped both in and out of the Chinese Empire, these rules and regulations were all stipulated in various trade treaties that were imposed on the Qing by the Western colonial powers.<ref name="LondonSchoolOfEconomicsDebinMa"/> Because these changes were implemented during the height of the [[Taiping Rebellion]], the Western powers had managed to take over the complete administration of the Qing's maritime customs from the imperial Chinese governmental bureaucracy.<ref name="LondonSchoolOfEconomicsDebinMa"/>

The Imperial Maritime Customs Service developed the Haikwan tael (海關兩), this new form of measurement was an abstract unit of silver tael that would become the nationwide standard unit of account in silver for any form of Customs tax.<ref name="LondonSchoolOfEconomicsDebinMa"/> The Haikwan tael was preferred over the Kuping tael (庫平兩) by many merchants across China, this was because the units of the Kuping tael varied often to the advantage of imperial tax collectors, this form of corruption was an extra source of income for government bureaucrats at the expense of traders.<ref name="LondonSchoolOfEconomicsDebinMa"/> The Haikwan tael unit was completely uniform, it was very carefully defined, and its creation had been negotiated among the various colonial powers and the government of the Qing dynasty.<ref name="LondonSchoolOfEconomicsDebinMa"/> The Haikwan tael was on average 5% to 10% larger than the various local tael units that had existed in China, this was done as it deliberately excluded any form of extra surcharges which were embedded in the other units of the silver tael that existed as a form of intermediary income for local government tax collection, these surcharges were added to local taels as a form of corruption and these taxes never reached the imperial government under the traditional fiscal regime.<ref name="LondonSchoolOfEconomicsDebinMa"/>

Near the end of the Qing dynasty, one {{Transliteration|zh|[[ding (unit)|dìng]]}} (sycee, or {{Transliteration|zh|yuanbao}}) is about 50 taels.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Morse |first=H.B. |author-link=H.B. Morse |title=Currency in China |journal=Journal of the North-China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society |date=1907 |volume=38 |page=36 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=56xBAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA36 |location=Shanghai |quote=The standard ingot of China weighs about 50 taels (from 49 to 54) and, formerly called ''ting'' {{lang|zh-hant|鋌}}, is now called ''pao'' {{lang|zh-hant|寶}} (jewel, article of value, as in the inscription on the copper cash ''tung-pao'' {{lang|zh-hant|通寶}} = "current coin") and more commonly ''yuan-pao'' {{lang|zh|元}}}}</ref>

==== Conversion rates in imperial China ====

The local tael took precedence over any central measure. Thus, the [[Guangzhou|Canton]] tael weighed {{convert|37.5|g|ozt|2}}, the Convention or [[Shanghai]] tael was {{convert|33.9|g|ozt|2}}, and the ''Haiguan'' ({{lang-zh|c=海關|p=hǎiguān|l=customs|labels=no}}) tael {{convert|37.8|g|ozt|2}}. The conversion rates between various common taels were well known.

==== Republic of China ====

In the year 1933 the government of the [[Republic of China (1912–1949)|Republic of China]] abolished the tael and completely replaced it with the [[Yuan (currency)|yuan]] in a process known as the ''fei liang gai yuan'' ({{Lang-zh|t=廢兩改元|l=Abolishing tael and changing to yuan|labels=no}}). During this time the [[Governments of the Republic of China|Republican government]] cleared all banknotes denominated in the ancient tael currency, making all bills which used this currency unit obsolete.<ref name="ChinaKnowledgeQianzhuang">{{cite web|url= http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Terms/qianzhuang.html|title= ''qianzhuang'' 錢莊, private banks.|date=24 November 2015|access-date=9 August 2019|author= Ulrich Theobald|publisher= [[Chinaknowledge]].de|language=en}}</ref>

==== Purchasing power ====

Modern studies suggest that, on [[purchasing power parity]] basis, one tael of silver was worth about 4,130 yuan [[Renminbi|RMB]] in the early [[Tang dynasty]], 2,065 yuan RMB in the late [[Tang dynasty]], and 660.8 yuan RMB in the mid [[Ming dynasty]].{{Citation needed|date=July 2010}} {{as of|2024|2}} the price of silver is about 254 yuan RMB/tael of 50&nbsp;g.

== Current usage ==

The tael is still in use as a weight measurement in a number of countries though usually only in limited contexts. In English-speaking countries, measurement scales that support Tael as a unit will typically abbreviate it as "tl".

===Sinophone world===
==== Mainland China ====

China adopted the metric-based market unit system in 1930, setting the market catty at 500&nbsp;g. A market tael ({{lang-zh | c=市两| hp=shìliǎng| l=| links=no}}), being  {{frac|16}} of a market catty, is thus 31.25&nbsp;g. In 1959, the [[People's Republic of China]] changed the new market tael to {{frac|10}} catty or 50&nbsp;g to make division easier. (see [[Chinese unit]] for details.) In Shanghai, silver is still traded in taels.

Some foodstuffs in China are sold in units also called "taels", but which do not necessarily weigh one tael. For cooked rice, the weight of the tael is approximated using special tael-sized ladles. Other items sold in taels include the ''[[shengjian mantou]]'' and the ''[[xiaolongbao]]'', both small [[baozi|bao buns]] commonly sold in Shanghai. In these cases, one tael is traditionally four and eight buns respectively.

==== Hong Kong and Singapore ====
The tael is a legal weight measure in [[Hong Kong]], and is still in active use.<ref name = "hk_law">{{cite web|title = Weights and Measures Ordinance |work = The Law of Hong Kong | url = http://www.legislation.gov.hk/blis_ind.nsf/e1bf50c09a33d3dc482564840019d2f4/4ed2ff0cf02f2fd9c82564760077af3c?OpenDocument }}</ref>  In Hong Kong, one tael is 37.799364167 g,<ref name = "hk_law"/> and in ordinance 22 of 1884 is {{frac|1|1|3}} [[ounce|oz. avoir.]] Similar to Hong Kong, in Singapore, one tael is defined as {{frac|1|1|3}} ounce and is approximated as 37.7994 g<ref name = "sg_law"/>

==== Taiwan ====
The Taiwan tael is 37.5&nbsp;g and is still used in some contexts. The Taiwan tael is derived from the tael or {{Nihongo||両|ryō}} of the [[Japanese units of measurement|Japanese system]] (equal to 10 ''momme'') which was 37.5&nbsp;g. Although the [[catty]] (equal to 16&nbsp;taels) is still frequently used in Taiwan, the tael is only used for precious metals and herbal medicines.{{Citation needed|date=April 2024}}

===Elsewhere===
==== Thailand ====
The [[Thailand|Thai]] equivalent of the tael is known as the ''[[Thai units of measurement|tamlueng]]'', a term derived from [[Khmer language|Khmer]]. It was used as a unit of currency equal to four [[baht]]; nowadays, as a unit of weight it is fixed at 60&nbsp;grams.

==== Vietnam ====
[[File:Gold_lang_Tu_Duc_CdM.jpg|thumb|120px|Gold lạng (Tael) of [[Tự Đức]].]]

In [[French Indochina]], the colonial administration fixed the tael ''({{lang|vi|lạng}})'' as 100&nbsp;g, which is commonly used at food markets where many items typically weigh in the 100–900&nbsp;g range. However, a different tael (called {{lang|vi|cây}}, {{lang|vi|lạng}}, or {{lang|vi|lượng}}) unit of 37.5&nbsp;g is used for domestic transactions in gold. Real estate prices are often quoted in taels of gold rather than the local currency over concerns over [[monetary inflation]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.theedgemarkets.com/article/weird-ways-people-buy-property|title=Weird ways people buy property|first=Shawn|last=Ng |date=September 13, 2017|website=The Edge Markets}}</ref>

== See also ==
{{Portal|China|Money|Numismatics}}
* [[History of Chinese currency]]
* [[Economic history of China]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links == 
{{commons category|Tael}}
* {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080405225408/http://www.gold.org/assets/file/pr_archive/html/bars/Categ.htm |date=April 5, 2008 |title=World Gold Council description of gold bars}}

{{Currency units of China}} 
{{Monetary weight units of China}} 
{{Chinese currency and coinage}}

[[Category:Chinese units in Hong Kong]]
[[Category:Currencies of China]]
[[Category:Modern obsolete currencies]]
[[Category:Units of mass]]