Pounds to Jin (Chinese) (lb to jin)

1 pound equals 0.90718474 jin (Chinese) exactly.

1 pound = 0.90718474 jin (Chinese)

How to convert pounds to jin (Chinese)

To convert pounds to jin (Chinese), multiply the number of pounds by 0.90718474. This factor is exact. To go the other way, multiply jin (Chinese) by 1.102311311 (rounded).

jin (Chinese) = pounds × 0.90718474

Example: 10 pounds = 9.0718474 jin (Chinese).

About these units

Pound (lb)

US & ImperialCurrent unit

Exactly 0.45359237 kg, divided into 16 ounces. The standard unit of weight in the US and common in the UK.

Why is pound abbreviated lb? The answer is Roman. The English word comes from the Latin libra pondo, roughly the weight measured in libra, and the symbol keeps the first word. The Roman libra was divided into 12 unciae. The avoirdupois pound of 16 ounces came into general use around 1300 and was initially equal to 6,992 troy grains; under Elizabeth I it was redefined as 7,000 grains. The UK's Weights and Measures Act 1878 set the imperial standard pound as a platinum cylinder, and the troy pound was abolished for trade the following year.

Today the pound is defined from the kilogram. The International Yard and Pound Agreement of 1959 fixed it at exactly 0.45359237 kg, and the UK's Weights and Measures Act 1963 wrote the same figure into law. Pounds remain the everyday unit for body weight, groceries and shipping in the United States and are widely used in the UK. The word also survives in odd places: a six-pounder cannon was named for the weight of its shot, not its own.

1 pound = 0.45359237 kilograms (exactly).

Sources: Wikipedia: Pound (mass); NIST Guide to the SI, Appendix B.8 (mass conversions)

Jin (Chinese) (jin)

ChineseTraditional unit (still used in some regions)

Exactly 500 g in the modern Chinese market system, used in grocery markets across China. Often called a catty.

Anyone buying fruit or vegetables in a Chinese market is quoted prices per jin, and in English the unit is often called a catty, a word from the Malay kati. The historical jin shifted a great deal. Tables give about 250 g before the Qin, 220 g in the Eastern Han, 440 g in the Northern Wei, around 661 g in the Tang, 633 g in the Song and Yuan, and about 590 g in the Ming and Qing.

Modern values are tied to political decisions more than to ancient practice. The Republic's 1930 system set the jin at 500 g with 16 liang, and that mass was retained in mainland China after 1959, which is the figure used here. Hong Kong keeps a jin of about 604.79 g, and Taiwan uses 600 g. A jin is 10 liang on the mainland but 16 elsewhere, and 100 jin form one dan, also called a picul.

1 jin (Chinese) = 0.5 kilograms (exactly).

Sources: Wikipedia: Jin (unit); Wikipedia: Chinese units of measurement

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