The ''ge'' is a traditional

Chinese unit Chinese units of measurement, known in Chinese as the ''shìzhì'' ("market system"), are the traditional units of measurement of the Han Chinese. Although Chinese numerals have been decimal (base-10) since the Shang, several Chinese measures u ...

volume Volume is a measure of occupied three-dimensional space. It is often quantified numerically using SI derived units (such as the cubic metre and litre) or by various imperial or US customary units (such as the gallon, quart, cubic inch). Th ...

equal to ''

sheng Sheng may refer to: * Sheng (instrument) (笙), a Chinese wind instrument * Sheng (surname) (盛), a Chinese surname * Sheng (Chinese opera), a major role in Chinese opera * Sheng (升), ancient Chinese unit of volume, approximately 1 liter * S ...

''. Its Korean equivalent is the ''hob'' or ''hop'' and its Japanese equivalent is the ''gō''.

China

The ''ge'' is a traditional Chinese unit of volume equal to 10''

shao Shao (; Cantonese Romanisation: Shiu; Gwoyeu Romatzyh: Shaw) is a common Chinese family name. It is the 86th most populous family name in China. It corresponds to last name So in Korean; "Thiệu" or "Thiều" in Vietnamese; “Zau” in Wu Chin ...

'' or ''

''. Its exact value has varied over time with the size of the ''sheng''. In 1915, the

Beiyang Government The Beiyang government (), officially the Republic of China (), sometimes Chinese postal romanization, spelled Peiyang Government, refers to the government of the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China which sat in its capital Pek ...

set the ''ge'' as equivalent to .. The Nationalist Government's 1929 Weights and Measures Act, effective 1 January 1930, set it equal to the

deciliter The litre (international spelling) or liter (American English spelling) (SI symbols L and l, other symbol used: ℓ) is a metric unit of volume. It is equal to 1 cubic decimetre (dm3), 1000 cubic centimetres (cm3) or 0.001 cubic metre (m3). ...

or 0.182 dry pt).. The

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, sli ...

confirmed that value in 1959, although it made the official Chinese name of the deciliter the ''fēnshēng'' and exempted TCM pharmacists from punishment for noncompliance with the new measure when traditional amounts were required for preparing medicine..

Korea

The ''hob'' (

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

) or ''hop'' (

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and ...

) is a

traditional Korean unit Korean units of measurement, called ''cheokgwan-beop'' () or ''cheokgeun-beop'' () in Korean, is the traditional system of measurement used by the people of the Korean peninsula. It is largely based on the Chinese system, with influence from Jap ...

based on the ''ge'' which is equal to '' doe'' (SK) or ''toe'' (NK). Its exact value has varied over time with the size of the ''doe''. During its occupation, Korea's native measures were standardized to their Japanese equivalents. The present-day ''hob'' is

litre The litre (international spelling) or liter (American English spelling) (SI symbols L and l, other symbol used: ℓ) is a metric unit of volume. It is equal to 1 cubic decimetre (dm3), 1000 cubic centimetres (cm3) or 0.001 cubic metre (m3 ...

s (6.1 floz or 0.328 dry pt), the same as the Japanese ''gō''. Its use for commercial purposes has been criminalized in

, although it continues to be used in the North.

Japan

Volume

The ''gō'' or cup is a

traditional Japanese unit Traditional Japanese units of measurement or the shakkanhō (, "''shaku–kan'' system") is the traditional system of measurement used by the people of the Japanese archipelago. It is largely based on the Chinese system, which spread to Japan ...

based on the ''ge'' which is equal to or . It was officially equated with liters in 1891. The ''gō'' is the traditional amount used for a serving of

rice Rice is the seed of the grass species '' Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly '' Oryza glaberrima'' (African rice). The name wild rice is usually used for species of the genera '' Zizania'' and ''Porteresia'', both wild and domestica ...

and a cup of

sake Sake, also spelled saké ( ; also referred to as Japanese rice wine), is an alcoholic beverage of Japanese origin made by fermenting rice that has been polished to remove the bran. Despite the name ''Japanese rice wine'', sake, and ind ...

Japanese cuisine Japanese cuisine encompasses the regional and traditional foods of Japan, which have developed through centuries of political, economic, and social changes. The traditional cuisine of Japan ( Japanese: ) is based on rice with miso soup and ot ...

. Although the ''gō'' is no longer used as an official unit, 1-''gō'' measuring cups or their 180mL metric equivalents are often included with Japanese

rice cooker A rice cooker or rice steamer is an automated kitchen appliance designed to boil or steam rice. It consists of a heat source, a cooking bowl, and a thermostat. The thermostat measures the temperature of the cooking bowl and controls the heat. ...

s. In dining, a 1-''gō'' serving is sometimes equated with 150g of Japanese short-grain rice. It also appears as a serving size for

fugu The fugu (; ; ) in Japanese, ''bogeo'' (; 鰒魚) or ''bok'' () in Korean, and ''hétún'' (河豚; 河魨) in Standard Modern Chinese is a pufferfish, normally of the genus '' Takifugu'', '' Lagocephalus'', or '' Sphoeroides'', or a porcupin ...

and other fish. Since

bottles are typically either 720 or 750mL, they can be reckoned as holding about four cups.

Area

The ''gō'' is also used as a unit equal to ''

tsubo A ''pyeong'' (abbreviationpy) is a Korean unit of area and floorspace, equal to a square '' kan'' or 36square Korean feet. The ''ping'' and ''tsubo'' are its equivalent Taiwanese and Japanese units, similarly based on a square '' bu'' ( ja: ...

''. This is approximately equal to 0.3306 m².

Mountaineering

In Japanese mountaineering terms, the distance from the foot of a mountain to the summit is divided into 10 ''gō'', and the points corresponding to these tenths of the route are generally referred to as "stations" in English.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* . {{DEFAULTSORT:Ge, Unit Units of volume Sake