The Chinese sheng ( zh, c=升, p=shēng), called sho in Japan and seung in Korea, also called Chinese liter, is a traditional unit of volume in East Asia. It originated from China and was later adapted by Japan, the Korean Peninsula, Vietnam and other areas. One ''sheng'' equals 10 '' ge'' or 1/10 '' dou'', though its specific capacity has varied by times and regions. Modernly, 1 ''sheng'' is 1 liter in China, 1.8039 liters in Japan and 1.8 liters in Korea. ''Sheng'' was a traditional measure for cereal grains. Now, like a

liter The litre ( Commonwealth spelling) or liter ( American 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 metres (m3). A cu ...

, a ''sheng'' is more often used to measure liquid or gas.

Ancient systems

As a unit of volume, ''sheng'' appeared in the

Warring States Period The Warring States period in history of China, Chinese history (221 BC) comprises the final two and a half centuries of the Zhou dynasty (256 BC), which were characterized by frequent warfare, bureaucratic and military reforms, and ...

(c. 475 to 221 BC) of China and has remained in use ever since.

Modern systems

China

''Sheng'' is the basic unit in the volume system promulgated by the Chinese government in 1915. One ''sheng'' (升) equals 1.0354688 liters.. The following table is based on the "Weights and Measures Acts" of the 18th year of the

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

(1929), which came into effect on January 1, 1930. The Chinese volume units listed in the "Chinese Name Plan for Unified Metric Units of Measurement" of the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

in 1959 are Chinese ''dan, dou, sheng'', and ''ge''. The basic unit remains ''sheng'', and one ''sheng'' is equal to one liter. The Chinese ''sheng'' is also called "市升" ("market sheng" or "market liter") to distinguish from the Chinese translation of "liter", which is called "公升", ("common sheng" or "common liter").1959 Gazette of the State Council of the People's Republic of ChinaNo. 180
page 317 Nowadays, like the unit of "liter", ''sheng'' is more often used to measure liquid or gas.

Japan

The base unit of volume in Japan is ''shō'' (), i.e., the Japanese ''sheng''. One ''sho'' equals 1.804 liters. Sake and shochu are both commonly sold in large 1800mL bottles known as , literally "one ''shō'' bottle".

Korea

The base unit of Korean volume is the ''doi'', equal to the Korean ''sheng'' (seung, 승(升)).

Sheng and Liter

The English "liter" is also called ''sheng'' (升) in China. In the cases where distinguishing is needed, word "liter" is translated into 公升 ("common ''sheng''", or "common liter"), and the traditional Chinese ''sheng'' is called 市升 ("market sheng", or "market liter"), because it is more frequently used in the market. The ''shengs'' can also be distinguished by the regions they were defined, such as the "Chinese ''sheng''", "Japanese ''shō''", "Korean ''seung''", "British ''liter''", etc. In China, one ''sheng'' is equal to one liter. Since the two units are of the same size, they are both called ''sheng'' in Chinese or "liter" in English for short when distinction is not necessary. In addition, the Chinese standard SI prefixes may be added to 升 (''shēng'') to form more units, such as 分升(''fensheng'', deciliter, dl), 厘升 (''lisheng'', centiliter, cl), 毫升 (''haosheng'', milliliter, cl).

Notes

References

{{reflist Units of volume Customary units of measurement