mace (unit)
{{short description|Unit of weight and currency}}
{{Chinese
|c=錢
|p=qián
|w=ch'ien2
|j=cin4
|y=chìhn
|poj=chîⁿ
|h=tshièn
|kanji=錢 (匁weight unit (1891–1933))
|hiragana=せん (もんめ)
|romaji=sen (monme)
|hangul=돈, 전
|hanja=錢
|rr=don, jeon
|mr=ton, chŏn
|yr=ton, cen
|qn=tiền
|chuhan= {{linktext|錢}}
|ind=mas
|msa=mas
|mon=цэн
|mnc=ᠵᡳᡥᠠ
|mnc_v=jiha
|lang2=Buryat
|lang2_content=сэн
}}
A mace ({{zh | c=錢| hp=qián| l=| links=no}}; Hong Kong English usage: tsin;{{cite web|title = Weights and Measures Ordinance |work = The Law of Hong Kong | url =http://www.legislation.gov.hk/blis_ind.nsf/e1bf50c09a33d3dc482564840019d2f4/4ed2ff0cf02f2fd9c82564760077af3c?OpenDocument}} Southeast Asian English usage: chee[https://books.google.com/books?id=urNJAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA152 "Weights and Measures"] in The Miners' Pocket-book.) is a traditional Chinese measurement of weight in East Asia that was also used as a currency denomination. It is equal to 10 candareens and is {{frac|10}} of a tael or approximately 3.78 grams. A troy mace is approximately 3.7429 grams. In Hong Kong, one mace is {{val|3.779936375}} grams. and in Ordinance 22 of 1884, it is {{frac|2|15}} ounces avoirdupois. In Singapore, one mace (referred to as chee) is {{val|3.77994}} grams.{{cite web|title = Weights and Measures Act (CHAPTER 349) Third Schedule|work = Singapore Statutes|url = http://statutes.agc.gov.sg/non_version/cgi-bin/cgi_getdata.pl?actno=1976-REVED-349&doctitle=WEIGHTS%20AND%20MEASURES%20ACT%0A&date=latest&method=part&sl=1&segid=888373245-001666|access-date = 2010-11-22|archive-date = 2017-08-20|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170820033945/http://statutes.agc.gov.sg/non_version/cgi-bin/cgi_getdata.pl?actno=1976-REVED-349&doctitle=WEIGHTS%20AND%20MEASURES%20ACT%0A&date=latest&method=part&sl=1&segid=888373245-001666|url-status = dead}}
In imperial China, 10 candareens equaled 1 mace which was {{frac|10}} of a tael and, like the other units, was used in weight-denominated silver currency system. A common denomination was 7 mace and 2 candareens, equal to one silver Chinese yuan.
Name
Like other similar measures such as tael and catty, the English word "mace" derives from Malay, in this case through Dutch maes, plural masen, from Malay mas which, in turn, derived from Sanskrit {{IAST|māṣa}} ({{lang|sa|माष}}), a word related to "mash," another name for the urad bean, and masha, a traditional Indian unit of weight equal to 0.97 gram.{{OED|Mace n³}} This word is unrelated to other uses of "mace" in English.
The Chinese word for mace is qián ({{zh|c=錢|links=no}}), which is also a generic word for "money" in Mandarin Chinese. The same Chinese character (kanji) was used for the Japanese sen, the former unit equal to {{frac|100}} of a Japanese yen, the Korean chŏn (revised: jeon), the former unit equal to {{frac|100}} of a Korean won, and for the Vietnamese tiền, a currency used in late imperial Vietnam, although none of these has ever been known as "mace" in English.
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Currency units of China}}
{{Monetary weight units of China}}
{{Chinese currency and coinage}}
Category:Modern obsolete currencies
Category:Chinese units in Hong Kong
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