Liu Chenggui

Liu Chengbei (Chinese: 劉承珪, 951–1016) was a Chinese government official of the Song Dynasty. His posthumous name (Chinese: 諡號) is Zhongsu (Chinese: 忠肅). His native place was in Shanyang (山陽).[1]

He was the official in charge of the court treasury upon the ascension of Emperor Taizong in 976, and was charged with the task of standardizing the weights and measures. After a thorough examination, he determined that the existing measurement devices were largely not up to the task, and proceeded to research and develop a new type of balance that was later known as the dengzi (戥子). Because of its small size and precision, the dengzi continued on for centuries as a tool for weighing precious metals and medicines. He also used to kinds of dengzi to cast standard weights in series and promulgate them throughout the empire.[2]

References
  1. Wang, Deyi; Chang, Pide. Song ren zhuan ji zi liao suo yin (dian zi ban) Index to Song Biographical Materials（Chinese：宋人傳記資料索引(電子版)） (eBook ed.). 台北鼎文书局. ISBN 7-101-00202-1.
  2. Qiu Guangming 丘光明. Zhong guo gu dai ji liang shi 中國古代计量史 [The history of ancient Chinese measures and weights]. Translated by Zhang Yanming 张延明. (Hefei: Anhui kexue jishu chubanshe, 2012): 120-121.

Further reading
  • Guo Zhengzhong. "The Deng Steelyards of the Song Dynasty (960-1279): In Commemoration of the One Thousandth Anniversary of their Manufacture by Liu Chenggui," tr. Li Qinming and Hans Ulrich Vogel. In Jean-Claude Hocquet (ed.), Une activité universelle: Peser et mesurer à travers les âges (Acta Metrologiae IV, VIe Congres International de Metrologie Historique, Cahiers de Métrologie, Tomes 11–12, 1993-1994), pp. 297–306. Caen: Editions du Lys, 1994
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