Dou (volume)

Dou (Chinese: 斗; pinyin: dǒu), called to in Japan and du in Korea, is a unit of volume in East Asia. It originated in China and later spread to Japan, Korean and other places. One dou equals 10 sheng or 1/10 dan, is 10 liters in China,[1][2] 18.039 liters in Japan[3] and 18 liters in Korea.[4]

Dou is one of the traditional Chinese units of measurement used to measure cereal grains, among other things.[5]

China

Table of Chinese volume units effective since 1930[1][5]

Pinyin	Character	Relative value	Metric value	US value	Imperial value	Notes
cuō	撮	1⁄1000	1 mL	0.0338 fl oz	0.0352 fl oz	millilitre
sháo	勺	1⁄100	10 mL	0.3381 fl oz	0.3520 fl oz	centilitre
gě	合	1⁄10	100 mL	3.381 fl oz	3.520 fl oz	decilitre
shēng	市升	1	1 L	2.113 pt	1.760 pt	litre
dǒu	市斗	10	10 L	21.13 pt 2.64 gal	17.60 pt 2.20 gal	decalitre
dàn	市石	100	100 L	26.41 gal	22.0 gal	hectolitre

Japan

Table of volume units in Japan [3] [6]

Unit		Shō	Metric		US		Imperial
Romanized	Kanji		Exact	Approx.	Exact	Approx.	Exact	Approx.
Sai	才	1⁄1000	⁠2401/1,331,000⁠ L	1.804 mL	⁠37,515,625/15,900,351,812,136⁠ cu yd	29.28 min	⁠240,100/605,084,579⁠ gal	30.47 min
						0.1101 cu in
Shaku	勺	1⁄100	⁠2401/133,100⁠ L	18.04 mL	⁠187,578,125/7,950,175,906,068⁠ cu yd	0.6100 fl oz	⁠2,401,000/605,084,579⁠ gal	0.6349 fl oz
						1.101 cu in
Gō	合	1⁄10	⁠2401/13,310⁠ L	180.4 mL	⁠937,890,625/3,975,087,953,034⁠ cu yd	0.3812 pt	⁠24,010,000/605,084,579⁠ gal	0.3174 pt
						0.3276 dry pt
Shō	升	1	⁠2401/1331⁠ L	1.804 L	⁠4,689,453,125/1,987,543,976,517⁠ cu yd	1.906 qt	⁠240,100,000/605,084,579⁠ gal	1.587 qt
						1.638 dry qt
To	斗	10	⁠24,010/1331⁠ L	18.04 L	⁠46,894,531,250/1,987,543,976,517⁠ cu yd	4.765 gal	⁠2,401,000,000/605,084,579⁠ gal	3.968 gal
						2.048 pk
Koku	石	100	⁠240,100/1331⁠ L	180.4 L	⁠468,945,312,500/1,987,543,976,517⁠ cu yd	47.65 gal	⁠24,010,000,000/605,084,579⁠ gal	39.680 gal
						5.119 bu
Notes: Approximations are rounded to four significant figures.

Korea

Table of volume units in Korea[7] [8]

Romanization			Korean	English	Equivalents
RR	MR[9]	Other			Doe[10]	Other countries	Global
Jak	Chak		작(勺)		1⁄100		18 mL (0.63 imp fl oz; 0.61 US fl oz)
Hop	Hop		홉		1⁄10	Ge	180 mL (6.3 imp fl oz; 6.1 US fl oz)[a][10]
Doe	Toe	Doi[10] Dwe[4]	되	Korean Peck[11]	1		1.8 L (0.40 imp gal; 0.48 US gal)[b][10]
Seung	Sŭng		승(升)
Mal	Mal		말	Korean Bushel	10		18 L (4.0 imp gal; 4.8 US gal)[c][10]
Du	Tu		두(斗)
Seom	Sŏm		섬	Korean Picul[12]	100	Picul	180 L (40 imp gal; 48 US gal)[d][10]
Seok	Sŏk	Suk[10]	석(石)
Jeom	Chŏm		점(苫)
Sogok	Sogok		소곡(小斛)		150		270 L (59 imp gal; 71 US gal)
Pyeongseok	P'yŏngsŏk		평석(平石)
Daegok	Taegok		대곡(大斛)		200		360 L (79 imp gal; 95 US gal)
Jeonseok	Chŏnsŏk		전석(全石)

For more details, please see Sheng (volume)

Words

• 斗室 (dǒu shì)
• 車載斗量 (chē zài dǒu liàng)
• 不為五斗米折腰 (bù wèi wǔ dǒu mǐ zhéyāo)

See also

• Chinese units of measurement
• Japanese units of measurement
• Korean units of measurement
• zh:中國度量衡

Notes

1. The variant figures in Fessley [9] and the UN[10] reports are based on the imperial measuring system.
2. imp
3. imp
4. imp

References

1. "The Weights and Measures Act (1929)" (in Chinese). Legislative Yuan. Archived from the original on 2014-04-25.
2. Language Institute, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (2016). 现代汉语词典 (附錄：計量單位表) [Contemporary Chinese Dictionary (Appendix: Measure units)] (in Chinese) (7th ed.). Beijing: Commercial Press. p. 1790. ISBN 978-7-100-12450-8.
3. Iwata, Shigeo. "Weights and Measures in Japan"
4. Kim (2007).
5. Language Institute 2016, p. 316.
6. World Weights and Measures: Handbook for Statisticians, ST/STAT/SER. M/21, UN Publication No. 1955.XVII.2, New York, NY: Statistical Office of the United Nations, 1955
7. Kim, Jun Hee (March 2007), "Taking Measure", Invest Korea Journal, vol. 25, Seoul: Korea Trade–Investment Promotion Agency
8. Fessley, Susanna (2009), "Weights and Measures in East Asian Studies" (PDF), Albany: State University of New York
9. Fessley (2009), p. 9.
10. UN (1955), III-59.
11. NIKH (2017).
12. "Glossary of Korean History", Veritable Records of the Joseon Dynasty, Seoul: National Institute of Korean History, 2017