Why is one catty equal to sixteen taels on an ancient scale?

Pole scale is one of the greatest inventions of ancient China, which is different from the western balance, using the principle of leverage, only a relatively very light and small "right" (weight), you can weigh a very large and heavy things. Moreover, it is easy to make and carry, and can be popularized in every family. The use of the hexadecimal system for the scale's "jin" reflects the great wisdom of China's forefathers in making scales.

We know that the pole scale is on a wooden pole to set out the scale head, lifting point and scale to, in the head of the scale through the eye with a rope to hang on the scale or hook, in the lifting point (weighing hair) perforated rope for lifting the rope or lifting the buttons, which is the lever of the scale of the pivot point, at the other end of the scale is equal to the scale, the first point of the scale is called the "star of the fixed plate", the weight of this point is exactly the weight of the weight of the scale, the scale is the same as the weight of the weight of the scale. At this point the weight of the scale is exactly equal to the weight of the pan or hook, and the scale is at the equilibrium point of zero weighing. If we put a weight in the pan,

Using the sliding scale, you can get another balance point at the end of the pole, in this balance point, the weight is exactly equal to a catty. At this point we have a unit of length from the fixed star to the one pound point at the end of the scale rod, which turns the measurement of weight into a measure of length. The scale slides over this length on the pole, and the weight of the balanced weight is "one catty".

Naturally, we simply halve this length, and the weight of the weighed weight is half a pound.

The next question is, if we use decimal system, half a pound or less, we have to divide the scale into five equal parts. How to divide? Will a line segment into five equal parts, in the era of only ruler gauge, this is a high-tech topic, can master not many craftsmen, even now is very difficult. So our forefathers, in their great wisdom, abandoned the decimal system and created a rule for equalizing scales: the folding method. The artisan who made the scale only had to take the inked rope used to tie the line, fold it, fold it, and fold it again, four times a ****, to equalize the length of a unit of 1 catty into sixteen parts, and name the weight weighed with these sixteenths of the length 1 tael, and thus a hexadecimal scale was born.

The hexadecimal system greatly simplified the difficulty of making pole scales, enabling ordinary craftsmen to make them, improving the efficiency of production, but also promoting the standardization of scales, popularization, common people, so that scales, like rulers and buckets, have become a universally used tool of weights and measures.

It can be seen that hexadecimal system is the law of weights and measures created by the Chinese ancestors in order to solve the difficulty of making scales and medium weights and measures.

It breaks the traditional law of decimal system, not to set the method by the law, but to set the law by the method, to the simple skills to solve the problem of scale making. Without hexadecimal, scale making could be a high-monopoly technology, and society as a whole would pay a high cost for it.