The unit originated in China during the
Qin dynasty (221–206 BC), where it was known as the
shi (石 "stone"). During the
Han dynasty, one stone was equal to 120
catties. Government officials were paid in grain, counted in stones, with top ranked ministers being paid 2000 stones. As a unit of measurement, the word
shi (石) can also be pronounced
dan. To avoid confusion, the character is sometimes changed to 擔 (
dàn), meaning "burden" or "load". Likewise, in
Cantonese the word is pronounced
sek (石) or
daam (擔), and in
Hakka it is pronounced
tam (擔). The word
picul appeared as early as the mid 9th century in
Javanese. In modern
Malay,
pikul is also a verb meaning 'to carry on the shoulder'. In the early days of
Hong Kong as a British colony, the stone (石, with a Cantonese pronunciation given as
shik) was used as a measurement of weight equal to 120 catties or , alongside the picul of 100 catties. Following
Spanish,
Portuguese,
British and most especially the
Dutch colonial maritime trade, the term
picul was both a convenient unit, and a
lingua franca unit that was widely understood and employed by other
Austronesians (in modern
Malaysia and the
Philippines) and their centuries-old trading relations with
Indians,
Chinese and
Arabs. It remained a convenient reference unit for many commercial trade journals in the 19th century. One example is
Hunts Merchant Magazine of 1859 giving detailed tables of expected prices of various commodities, such as coffee, e.g. one picul of Javanese coffee could be expected to be bought from 8 to 8.50 Spanish dollars in
Batavia and
Singapore. ==Definitions==