Picul

A traditional East and Southeast Asian unit of mass, generally equal to 100 catties and about 60 kilograms. Its exact value varied by place and period.

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Catty: A traditional East and Southeast Asian unit of mass whose value varied by region and period. A picul was generally defined as 100 catties.
Rice trade: The exchange and distribution of rice between producers, markets, and regions. Rice was commonly measured and traded in piculs in parts of Asia.
Chinese system of weights and measures: The historically changing set of standards and units used to measure mass, length, and capacity in China. The picul emerged within Chinese mass-measurement traditions and their regional adaptations.
Kilogram: The SI base unit of mass, defined by fixing the numerical value of the Planck constant. Unlike the picul, the kilogram has a globally uniform modern definition.
Tael: A traditional East and Southeast Asian unit of mass and, in some settings, currency. Taels were commonly grouped into catties, which defined the picul.
Pepper trade: The production and exchange of pepper, historically a major commodity in Asian and global commerce. Piculs served as a customary bulk measure for pepper in regional trade.
Chinese customary units: Traditional Chinese measures, including units retained alongside or replaced by metric standards. The picul is one inherited unit within this broader customary system.
Picul (Hong Kong): A Hong Kong traditional mass unit legally defined as 60.478982 kilograms. This specific standard is slightly above the picul’s often-rounded value of 60 kilograms.
Chinese units of measurement: Traditional systems of measurement used in China, including units of length, area, volume, and mass. The picul belongs to a wider system of Chinese measures that changed across regions and eras.
Tin mining: The extraction of tin ores and their processing into tin metal. Piculs were used to quantify tin output and shipments in parts of Southeast Asia.