秦漢的糧食計量體系與居民口糧數量

The Measurement System for Grains and the Quantity of Residents’ Grain Ration in the Qin and Han Dynasties

秦漢政府曾使用過一套比較特殊的糧食計量系統。它是由一個標準計量、三個專用大量共四個計量標準構成的有機體系。這個計量體系的特點是，針對各類原糧和成品糧設定不同的計量標準以求取各類原糧間、原糧與成品糧間的等值互換，其價值在於避開了糧食收發過程中的換算問題，簡便了政府租稅收取和廩食發放的工作。但這一體系有個致命缺陷，即它以固定糧食出米率為基礎，而實際生活中出米率卻是略有浮動的。正因為有此痼疾，大約在東漢後期或曹魏時期這一計量體系終遭廢棄。從現有史料來看，這個由三大一小共四個計量構成的糧食計量體系在中國歷史上至少存在了三百年之久。

In the Qin and Han dynasties, a special measurement system containing a standard measurement unit and three other special large measurement units was used to measure grains. According to the existing historical data, this system was in use for at least three hundred years. This system set measurement standards for different types of grains, and also took into consideration the difference between raw grains and processed ones. It was put in place to reduce the computational burden during the government taxation process as well as when the government dispensed food supplies to the public. However, this system had a fatal flaw, because it was based on fixed rice milling yields, which, however, fluctuated in real practice. Therefore, the system was abolished in the late Eastern Han dynasty or the Cao Wei period.