jīn
a unit of weight (=1/2 kilogram)
我买了一斤苹果。
wǒ mǎi le yī jīn píngguǒ.
I bought a jin of apples.
这块肉有五斤重。
zhè kuài ròu yǒu wǔ jīn zhòng.
This piece of meat weighs five jin.
一斤米多少钱？
yī jīn mǐ duōshǎo qián?
How much is a jin of rice?
市斤 (shìjīn)
catty
公斤 (gōngjīn)
kilogram
两 (liǎng)
tael
公斤 (gōngjīn)
kilogram
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The Chinese character 斤 (jīn) originally meant "axe" or "hatchet". It is composed of two parts: the radical 金 (jīn), which means "metal", and the phonetic component斤 (jīn), which is a simplified form of the character斤 (jīn), which means "axe". The character 斤 (jīn) was first used in the Shang Dynasty (c. 1600-1046 BC) and was originally a pictograph of an axe. Over time, the character became more stylized and simplified, and it eventually took on its current form. The character 斤 (jīn) is used in a variety of words related to weight and measurement, such as 公斤 (gōngjīn), which means "kilogram", and 斤两 (jīngliǎng), which means "weight".
