Half a Shi Is How Long
Half a Shi is 1 Hour!Because one shi is two hours, half a shi naturally becomes one hour. Shi is an ancient unit of time. The ancient people divided a day into twelve shi, each equal to two hours now. Therefore, half a shi in ancient times is equivalent to one hour today.
Twelve Shis:
Ancient laborers divided a day and night into twelve periods, each called a shi. Twelve shis can refer to a day or any single shi. The twelve shis were summarized by ancient Chinese laborers based on the natural laws of the sun rising and setting, changes in daylight, and their daily production activities and living habits.
How Many Ke in One Ancient Shi
In ancient times, one shi was approximately 8–8.3 ke.In the early days, the system of hundred ke was used, dividing the day and night into one hundred equal parts, with the starting point at sunrise and ending before the next sunrise. A day has twelve shi, so one shi is 8.3 ke. A day and night of 24 hours equals 100 ke, which is equivalent to 1440 minutes now, meaning each ke is about 14.4 minutes.
During the Han Dynasty, it was adjusted to 120 ke, and during the Southern and Northern Dynasties, it was changed to 96 ke and 108 ke, with several adjustments over time. It wasn't until the late Ming Dynasty, when European astronomical knowledge was introduced, that the idea of 96 ke was proposed again, and it was officially established during the early Qing Dynasty. One shi is 8 ke. One shi is 2 hours, and each ke is equivalent to 15 minutes now.
