The development of weights and measures began at the end of primitive society. Legend has it that the Yellow Emperor "fixed the Five Zhangyuan" and "Shao Hao measured the same rhythm". The unit of measurement was originally related to the human body: "the hand knows the ruler, and the cloth refers to the inch". "One hand is full, which means it is full, and both hands mean it." At this time, the unit still has disadvantages that vary from person to person. Historical Records of the Five Emperors: "In February, I toured the East for hunting. As for Daizong, I looked at the mountains and rivers. I also saw the leaders of the East, all of whom were measured by the same law at the new moon. Loyal to five rituals, five jade, three silks, two life and one death, such as five utensils, come back from the dead. " It is recorded in Historical Records Xia Benji that "being a man, ready to come out" shows that the unit was unified with celebrities as the standard at that time, and the earliest legal unit appeared.
A set of pottery tools unearthed in the late Yangshao House in Dadiwan 5000 years ago is the earliest measuring instrument found in China so far. This set of ancient pottery detectors in Dadiwan was unearthed in the main room (front hall) of F90 1 room. There are mainly mud trough-shaped strips, long-handled twist-ear shovel with fine sand, mud single-ring ear dustpan, and mud-covered four-deep belly cans. The volume of the strip disk is about 264.3 cubic centimeters; The natural texture volume of shovel paper is about 2650.7 cubic centimeters; The natural texture volume of basket paper is about 5288.4 cubic centimeters; The volume of the four deep belly tanks is about 26082.438+0 cubic centimeters. It can be seen that, except that the dustpan copy is twice as much as the shovel copy, the relationship between the other three pieces is ten times increasing. In order to keep consistent with the names of ancient measuring tools, we call their corresponding capacities "lifting, bucket and hook", which can be called "lifting, copying bucket and four hooks" and so on. In addition, several bone knives and shovels unearthed in the early Yangshao site in Dadiwan are often marked with equidistant punctate holes, and the holes are painted with red pigment, which should be used to measure the length and width of something at that time. Including a set of ceramic tools in F90 1 mentioned above, are the earliest physical evidence of "measuring, measuring and weighing" tools in China; And advanced the physical history of Chinese weights and measures by two or three thousand years. At the same time, the discovery of these weights and measures provides valuable materials for studying the distribution system, the history of weights and measures and the origin of the decimal system in ancient China. [1] The bone ruler and tooth ruler unearthed from Shang ruins are about 16 cm in length, which is equivalent to the distance between the fingers of a person of medium height after the thumb and forefinger are straightened. The decimal system is used to describe the scale, which, like bronze wares, reflects the production and technical level at that time.
During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, heroes stood side by side, and the weights and measures varied from country to country. After Qin Shihuang unified the whole country, he implemented the principle of "measuring the stone with a ruler, the car with the same track and the book with the same character" (the car with the same track, the book with the same character, the money with the same coin, the coin with the same shape, the ruler with the same quantity, the right with the same balance, the line with the same homotopy, and a quantity). ), issued a unified measurement letter, and formulated a strict management system. The rulers of Shang Dynasty laid the foundation of the measurement system of feudal society in China for more than two thousand years.