一千两 (yī qiān liǎng) — one thousand liangs (a traditional Chinese unit of weight, approx. 50 g each); one thousand taels of silver (archaic, a large sum of money)

Definition

A traditional unit phrase: 1,000 两 (liǎng), a weight of about 50 g each, also used in historical texts to mean a large sum of silver money (1,000 taels).

numeral
one thousand liangs (a traditional Chinese unit of weight, approx. 50 g each)one thousand taels of silver (archaic, a large sum of money)

Examples

  • 一千两。
    Tā yuàn yì chū yī qiān liǎng yín zi mǎi nà fú huà.
    He was willing to offer one thousand taels of silver to buy that painting.
  • ，一千两。
    Gǔ shí hou, yī qiān liǎng jiù shì yì bǐ dà cái fù.
    In ancient times, one thousand liangs was a considerable fortune.
  • 一千两。
    Tā yòng yī qiān liǎng bái yín xiū le yí zuò qiáo.
    He used one thousand liangs of white silver to build a bridge.

Origin

Characters in this word

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

一 is drawn as one horizontal stroke, marking the number one.

Open 一 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
一一yīone, signifying a number
Sound part声符shēngfú
人
人rén千qiān
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

千 pairs 人, whose sound was similar, with 一, a number stroke; the extra line was explained as extension, and a thousand is a number reached by extending counting.

Open 千 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 兩; 两 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 兩 is described as combining 一 and 㒳. The simplified 两 is a later abbreviation.

Open 两 →

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