Unbelievable history of the legendary balance of the subsidy era

The lever scale has been widely used until the end of the subsidy period, with the design not too much changed after thousands of years of history ….

Made of iron with a simple structure, the lever scale was a very familiar measuring instrument in Vietnam in the early 1990s and earlier. Few people believe that this scale has a very long history. (Photo taken at the Museum of Ho Chi Minh City).

According to Chinese accounts, the balance is an invention by Lu Ban (507 BC – 444 BC), a famous craftsman who lived in the early Lu Kingdom of the Warring States period in Chinese history.

Lu Ban’s lever scale is made of wood, consisting of scales, weights, and scales, operating on the principle of leverage. Based on the Red Dipper and the Lucifer Nam Dau, he engraved 13 engraved lines on the scale, setting 13 taels to equal 1 kilogram.

After the unification of the six countries, Tan Thuy Hoang added three engraved lines corresponding to the three-star “Phuc Loc Tho”, changed from 13 taels to 16 taels equal to 1 pound.

According to the old convention, the marking on the scale must be white or yellow, not be used black, implying that the business must be fair, integrity, not dark.

The first engraved line on the club scale is called the “leveling table”, its position is the hanging point of the weight with the weight hook when the weight is in equilibrium. The most important point when doing balance is that you have to choose the right “goal”.

Despite its simple structure, the balance lever has quite high accuracy, easy to use, not difficult to transport and manipulate. Over time, these scales have added improvements to make them more convenient to use.

From China, the balance was introduced into Vietnam and became the main weighing and measuring tool of the Vietnamese people for many centuries.

The lever scale was widely used until the end of the subsidy period, with its design not changing too much after thousands of years. It used to be an “inseparable” item of housewives across three regions.

Since the Doi Moi period, with the popularity of many modern scales such as clock scales, electronic scales … lever scales are no longer used in life.

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