thumb|Map of the eastern [[South China Sea from 1588; each grid square is 400 li (about 133 km or 80 miles).]]

Li or ri (, lǐ, or , shìlǐ), also known as the Chinese mile, is a traditional Chinese unit of distance. The li has varied considerably over time but was usually about one third of an English mile and now has a standardized length of a half-kilometer (). This is then divided into 1,500 chi, or "Chinese feet".

The character 里 combines the characters for "field" (田, tián) and "earth" (土, tǔ), since it was considered to be about the length of a single village. As late as the 1940s, a "li" did not represent a fixed measure but could be longer or shorter depending on the effort required to cover the distance. This traditional unit, in terms of historical usage and distance proportion, can be considered the East Asian counterpart to the Western league unit. However, in English league commonly means "3 miles."

There is also another li (Traditional: 釐, Simplified: 厘, lí) that indicates a unit of length of a chi, but it is used much less commonly. This li is used in the People's Republic of China as the equivalent of the centi- prefix in metric units, thus limi (厘米, límǐ) for centimeter. The tonal difference makes it distinguishable to speakers of Chinese, but unless specifically noted otherwise, any reference to li will always refer to the longer traditional unit and not to either the shorter unit or the kilometer.

Changing values

Like most traditional Chinese measurements, the li was reputed to have been established by the Yellow Emperor at the founding of Chinese civilization around 2600 BC and standardized by Yu the Great of the Xia dynasty six hundred years later. Although the value varied from state to state during the Spring and Autumn period and Warring States periods, historians give a general value to the li of 405 meters prior to the Qin dynasty imposition of its standard in the 3rd century BC.

The basic Chinese traditional unit of distance was the chi. As its value changed over time, so did the lis. In addition, the number of chi per li was sometimes altered. To add further complexity, under the Qin dynasty, the li was set at 360 "paces" (, bù) but the number of chi per bu was subsequently changed from 6 to 5, shortening the li by . Thus, the Qin li of about 576 meters became (with other changes) the Han li, which was standardized at 415.8 meters.

The basic units of measurement remained stable over the Qin and Han periods. A bronze imperial standard measure, dated AD 9, had been preserved at the Imperial Palace in Beijing and came to light in 1924. This has allowed very accurate conversions to modern measurements, which has provided a new and extremely useful additional tool in the identification of place names and routes. These measurements have been confirmed in many ways including the discovery of a number of rulers found at archaeological sites, and careful measurements of distances between known points. The Han li was calculated by Dubs to be 415.8 metres and all indications are that this is a precise and reliable determination. 3000 ri corresponds roughly to 1,200 km.

In South Korea, the ri unit currently in use is taken from the Han dynasty (206 BC–220 AD) li. It has a value of approximately 392.72 meters, or one tenth of the ri<!-- please clarify, this portion says ri is 1/10th of a ri -->. The Aegukga, the national anthem of South Korea, mentions 3,000 ri.

The Aegukka, the national anthem of North Korea, also mentioned 3,000 ri from 1947 until 2024, when the reference was removed amidst souring inter-Korean relations and a shift in North Korean policy away from Korean reunification. Also in North Korea, the Chollima Movement, a campaign aimed at improving labour productivity, gets its name from Chŏllima, a mythical horse capable of traveling 1000 ri in a single day (chŏn + ri + ma in North Korean Romanization).

The Korean traditional song "Arirang" mentions one travelling 10 ri.

See also

  • Chinese units of measurement
  • Japanese units of measurement
  • Korean units of measurement
  • League (unit) for a general discussion of league-style units
  • Qianlima for more on "thousand-li horse" including North Korean Chollima
  • Li (short)

References

Citations

Sources

  • Homer H. Dubs (1938): The History of the Former Han Dynasty by Pan Ku. Vol. One. Translator and editor: Homer H. Dubs. Baltimore. Waverly Press, Inc.
  • Homer H. Dubs (1955): The History of the Former Han Dynasty by Pan Ku. Vol. Three. Translator and editor: Homer H. Dubs. Ithaca, New York. Spoken Languages Services, Inc.
  • Hulsewé, A. F. P. (1961). "Han measures". A. F. P. Hulsewé, T'oung pao Archives, Vol. XLIX, Livre 3, pp.&nbsp;206–207.
  • Needham, Joseph. (1986). Science and Civilization in China: Volume 4, Physics and Physical Technology, Part 3, Civil Engineering and Nautics. Taipei: Caves Books Ltd.