China -- Social life and customs; National characteristics, Chinese
[8] A league in China is equal to ten Chinese miles. With the want of
precision, however, of the Chinese in their weights and measures, a league
is a very variable denomination. On what are called the "Great Roads,"
that is on a great thoroughfare, the length is as stated above, but on
cross-country roads, where the farmers are great walkers, a league may
sometimes extend to as much as ten English miles. The fact is, as we have
often found by experience, the length of a league depends very much upon
the measuring capacity of a man's mind, for it is a rare thing to get a
number of people to agree as to the exact distance between one place and
another.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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