Traditional Weight Converter (근·냥·돈·관)

Understanding the traditional Korean weight converter (geun, nyang, don, gwan) — concept and principle

Korea switched to metric units for trade long ago, yet market vendors, butchers and gold shops still talk in geun (근), nyang (냥), don (돈) and gwan (관). "One geun of pork", "a three-don gold ring" and "a gwan of potatoes" are everyday phrases. This converter turns these traditional units into grams, kilograms or pounds, or into each other, and it handles the two different sizes of geun.

How it is calculated

All units are converted through grams:

• 1 don = 3.75 g
• 1 nyang = 10 don = 37.5 g
• 1 gwan = 1,000 don = 3.75 kg
• 1 geun for meat = 16 nyang = 600 g
• 1 geun for fruit and vegetables = 10 nyang = 375 g
• 1 lb = 453.59237 g exactly

Result = value × (grams in source unit) ÷ (grams in target unit).

The principle

The traditional system is built on the don (the same mass as the Japanese monme), fixed at 3.75 g in the modern era. Nyang and gwan are exact multiples of it, so their conversions are exact. The geun is the one unit with two meanings: by long trade custom, meat (and some goods such as dried red pepper) is sold in a 16-nyang geun of 600 g, while fruit and vegetables use a 10-nyang geun of 375 g. That is why the calculator offers both, and why one meat geun equals 1.6 vegetable geun. Since 2007, Korean law has required statutory metric units in trade, so price tags now show grams, but the old words remain in speech.

Worked example

1. Default inputs: value 1, from geun (600 g, meat), to grams.
2. 1 meat geun = 600 g, so the result is 600 g.
3. In other units: 600 ÷ 37.5 = 16 nyang, 600 ÷ 3.75 = 160 don, 600 ÷ 3,750 = 0.16 gwan, 600 ÷ 375 = 1.6 vegetable geun, 0.6 kg.
4. In pounds: 600 ÷ 453.59237 = 1.322773573 lb.

How to read the result

Check which geun the seller means before comparing prices. If pork belly is quoted "per geun", that is 600 g; dividing the price by 6 gives the price per 100 g, which is how supermarkets label it. For gold, a don is 3.75 g, so a 1-don ring holds 3.75 g of metal at the stated purity (24K, 18K, 14K). Note that 18K and 14K items contain less pure gold than their weight.

Common mistakes

• Using 600 g for a geun of apples or onions, where 375 g is the custom.
• Thinking a nyang is 10 g or a don is 4 g; they are 37.5 g and 3.75 g.
• Comparing a per-geun price with a per-kg price without converting.

Frequently asked questions

How many grams is 1 geun?

600 g for meat, 375 g for fruit and vegetables.

How many grams is 1 don of gold?

3.75 g. A 10-don gold bar weighs 37.5 g, which is also 1 nyang.

How many kilograms is 1 gwan?

3.75 kg, equal to 1,000 don or 6.25 meat geun.

Why is a geun of meat larger than a geun of vegetables?

It is a long-standing trade custom: meat was counted at 16 nyang per geun and produce at 10 nyang per geun.

Sources: Republic of Korea, Measures Act (계량에 관한 법률) on statutory units · NIST Special Publication 811 (2008), Appendix B (pound = 0.45359237 kg)