<p>This might be what you are looking for:</p>

<p><a href="http://xh.5156edu.com/html3/1700.html">http://xh.5156edu.com/html3/1700.html</a>  </p>

<p>两, or 兩:<br>
双。用于鞋娄〖two〗<br>
一两棕鞋八尺藤,广陵行遍又金陵。——唐·戴叔伦《忆原上人》  </p>

<p>It's used as "pair" along with describing shoes.  Noted that this is more a usage than the origin of the word.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-06-23T12:41:24.357Z
I did not downvote, but the person who did probably feels you should write more of an answer here and not just give a link.
Colin McLarty
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-06-24T19:25:34.673Z
@ColinMcLarty thanks Colin, but I am not sure what else could be provided, given there aren't alot of references
Alex
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-06-22T19:28:30.170Z
2015-06-22T19:28:30.170Z
Alex
<p>In ancient received texts such as the <em>Shījīng</em>, the <em>Yìjīng</em>, and others, the primary attested meaning of <em>liǎng</em> 兩 is 'two'. This is specifically in reference to paired sets of things, not just any two things taken together.</p>

<p>In the Hàn the word begins to appear regularly as a general word for "two" or "a couple of". </p>

<p>As a measure word, it is used in ancient texts not only with two-wheeled carriages, but also with wooden clogs (normally two to a set) and lengths of cloth (normally two <em>zhàng</em> 丈 apiece). We read the measure word <em>liàng</em>, but there are ancient scholia that say there is no need to distinguish this word from "two" in pronunciation. A measure word is fundamentally a noun, and there are cases of nouns being read in the <em>qùshēng</em> — very roughly speaking, the Mandarin fourth tone.</p>

<p>The usage as a measure word gave rise to the sense "tael", because a tael is 24 <em>zhū</em> 銖; the <em>huángzhōng</em> 黃鍾 'type of ceremonial bell' weighed 12 <em>zhū</em> 銖, so twice that amount was called a <em>liǎng</em> "two[-fold]". So "tael" is really a derived meaning of the basic word.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-10-29T01:12:49.823Z
2015-10-29T01:12:49.823Z
brannerchinese
<p>Great question!</p>

<ul>
<li>两 is unit of two-horse carriage in the Shang Dynasty (c. 1600 - c. 1046 BCE),I think it's around this time that 两 replaced 二.</li>
<li>驷(or 乘) is unit of four-horse carriage in the Zhou Dynasty.</li>
<li>二 can be numeral(two) and ordinal numeral(second).</li>
<li>两 can be numeral(two) and unit of weight.</li>
</ul>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-10-28T08:01:14.973Z
2015-10-28T08:01:14.973Z
要你命三千
<p>I am not a native speaker, but I am answering, because I feel the previous answers explain the development of the character 兩 and not why it become popular. <strong>Native speakers please correct me. My knowledge is very limited</strong>.</p>

<p>@Armfoot has already explained the advantage of having different words for "pair" and ordinal "two". It remains to show why 兩 replaced 二 even in cases where it does not mean pair. From watching 武俠連續劇 it appears that in the past expressions like </p>

<blockquote>
  <p>二位姑娘</p>
</blockquote>

<p>were the norm.</p>

<p><strong>My naive hypothesis</strong></p>

<p>With the development of vernacular Chinese 個 become the most common measure word. People felt that 兩個 was smoother to articulate than 二個。</p>

<p>To be absolutely clear, even for me it is trivial to say 二個，二個，二個。But 兩個 seems smoother. Just like the 一 in 一個 shifts to second tone for better flow.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-07-21T16:03:40.387Z
2015-07-21T22:29:51.943Z
2015-07-21T22:29:51.943Z
Ludi
<p>From a calligraphic perspective, the character 两 represents two people (人人) attached to some kind of vehicle or container. Thus it depicts a more accurate description of two objects or subjects, in opposition to 二 which has a purely numeric meaning.</p>

<p>From the phonetic point of view, it also sounds better, as it is harder to misunderstand its meaning when in a sentence. Remember that in the north of China it is very common to add the sound 'er' (儿) at the end of words or sentences, such as in "你去哪?". But the composite sound "Liǎng" is much less frequent. It is easy to imagine lots of other misunderstandings that could occur in different words, such as "erzi" ("儿子"="one child", whilst "二子"="two children").</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-06-26T14:34:13.580Z
I believe OP is looking for the historical reasons behinds it, and he stated that 'I understand that 两 is used instead of 二 when dealing with quantities of two'
My Life for Auir
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-06-29T04:10:20.303Z
Sorry but the phonetic part of this answer is wrong, 儿子 means "son", and nobody in China could mistake it for "二子" which do not mean anything anyway, and would not either even using "两子".
gb.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-06-29T09:55:42.040Z
Exactly what I said: you can imagine that kind of misunderstanding (and many others), but no native speaker will commit it.
Further: "historical reasons" are to be based on _facts_ occuring over a time span. Unless you want someone to come with some dumb history such as: "King xxx once used the character on a letter to his wife... blah blah blah... and then everyone used it ever since" that some people are so prone to believe no matter what. The development of language is a dynamic process, not a static state happening at a single point in time.
Alfonso F R
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-06-26T14:12:08.803Z
2015-06-26T14:12:08.803Z
Alfonso F R
<p>Learn Chinese Grammar 3 Time of a Day
<a href="https://youtu.be/wJMoZj3as8g" rel="nofollow">https://youtu.be/wJMoZj3as8g</a></p>

<p>For detail, you can check through youtube link</p>

<ul>
<li>二 &amp; 兩
二

<ol>
<li>a)  102
b)  332</li>
<li>a)  20
b)  200</li>
<li>a)  第二
b)  三點二
c)  二分之一
兩</li>
<li>a)  兩千
b)  兩萬</li>
<li>c)  兩個人
d)  兩隻手</li>
<li>e)  兩半兒</li>
<li>f)  兩兄弟
g)  兩姐妹</li>
</ol></li>
</ul>

<p>兩 &amp; 二
1.  二斤 / 兩斤
2.  二尺 / 兩尺
3.  二圓 / 兩圓</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-08-27T05:02:17.720Z
Please don't depend on the explanation from another site or a video. Links eventually break, and then this answer will be useless. Please include enough explanation here to be useful, and provide the link to the video for more detail.
Don Kirkby
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-07-25T14:51:14.773Z
2015-07-25T14:51:14.773Z
gabgabhouse
<p>The historical reason behind it is kind of surprising though. From a <a href="http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B00D0VP34E" rel="noreferrer">Chinese Characters Roots book</a>:</p>

<p><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/bQhnV.jpg" alt="两 liang etymology"></p>

<blockquote>
  <p>The earlier form [of the character] looked like <strong>a <a href="http://www.thefreedictionary.com/yoke" rel="noreferrer">yoke</a> and a pair of saddles</strong> of a <strong>two-horse carriage</strong>. The initial meaning was <em>two</em> or <em>double</em>. It was also a unit to count vehicles and written as <strong>辆</strong> later.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>That is why we have:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p><a href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E8%BE%86" rel="noreferrer">一辆车  ―  yī liàng chē  ―  a car (from Wiktionary)</a></p>
</blockquote>

<p>Where you notice in 辆 that there is the 车 character, meaning car, at the left side of the 两 character.</p>

<p>I assume its usage became a practical one, since as in many languages (including English), you can be more specific when you are referring to a <strong>pair</strong> of objects by using 两, instead of two objects using 二.</p>

<p>Here's a particular example: 二炮 (Èr pào) refers to the <em>Second Artillery</em> and 两炮 (liǎng pào) means <em>two guns</em>. So, would you request two guns from your commander or a full regiment?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-10-29T00:57:23.193Z
I have to say, though, the "Chinese Characters Roots" book is not an authoritative source…
brannerchinese
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-06-27T18:53:12.700Z
2015-06-27T18:53:12.700Z
Armfoot
<p>I understand that 两 is used instead of 二 when dealing with quantities of two. However, my question is - why? What are the historical reasons behind this?</p>

<p>I looked at <a href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E5%85%A9#Chinese">Wikitionary</a> but it only had historical information for when 两 is used to mean the "tael" unit － not for its definition of "two."</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-04-22T11:36:45.007Z
Does this answer your question? [Number two in chinese: 二 vs 两](https://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/755/number-two-in-chinese-%e4%ba%8c-vs-%e4%b8%a4)
大胳膊雅各布
<word-choice><etymology><synonyms><number>
Why is 两 used for quantities of two rather than 二?
# Why is 两 used for quantities of two rather than 二?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2015-06-22)

I understand that 两 is used instead of 二 when dealing with quantities of two. However, my question is - why? What are the historical reasons behind this?

I looked at [Wikitionary](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E5%85%A9#Chinese) but it only had historical information for when 两 is used to mean the "tael" unit － not for its definition of "two."

**Tags:** word-choice, etymology, synonyms, number

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Does this answer your question? [Number two in chinese: 二 vs 两](https://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/755/number-two-in-chinese-%e4%ba%8c-vs-%e4%b8%a4)  

---

## 7 answers

### Answer by username_12 on 2015-06-27. Score: 11 | Accepted answer

The historical reason behind it is kind of surprising though. From a [Chinese Characters Roots book](http://rads.stackoverflow.com/amzn/click/B00D0VP34E):

![两 liang etymology](https://i.sstatic.net/bQhnV.jpg)

> The earlier form [of the character] looked like **a [yoke](http://www.thefreedictionary.com/yoke) and a pair of saddles** of a **two-horse carriage**. The initial meaning was *two* or *double*. It was also a unit to count vehicles and written as **辆** later.

That is why we have:

> [一辆车 ― yī liàng chē ― a car (from Wiktionary)](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E8%BE%86)

Where you notice in 辆 that there is the 车 character, meaning car, at the left side of the 两 character.

I assume its usage became a practical one, since as in many languages (including English), you can be more specific when you are referring to a **pair** of objects by using 两, instead of two objects using 二.

Here's a particular example: 二炮 (Èr pào) refers to the *Second Artillery* and 两炮 (liǎng pào) means *two guns*. So, would you request two guns from your commander or a full regiment?

> **Comments:**
> **username_4**: I have to say, though, the "Chinese Characters Roots" book is not an authoritative source…  

---

### Answer by username_2 on 2015-06-22. Score: 7

This might be what you are looking for:

<http://xh.5156edu.com/html3/1700.html>

两, or 兩:  
双。用于鞋娄〖two〗  
一两棕鞋八尺藤,广陵行遍又金陵。——唐·戴叔伦《忆原上人》

It's used as "pair" along with describing shoes. Noted that this is more a usage than the origin of the word.

> **Comments:**
> **username_3**: I did not downvote, but the person who did probably feels you should write more of an answer here and not just give a link.  
> **username_2**: @username_3 thanks username_3, but I am not sure what else could be provided, given there aren't alot of references  

---

### Answer by username_4 on 2015-10-29. Score: 2

In ancient received texts such as the *Shījīng*, the *Yìjīng*, and others, the primary attested meaning of *liǎng* 兩 is 'two'. This is specifically in reference to paired sets of things, not just any two things taken together.

In the Hàn the word begins to appear regularly as a general word for "two" or "a couple of".

As a measure word, it is used in ancient texts not only with two-wheeled carriages, but also with wooden clogs (normally two to a set) and lengths of cloth (normally two *zhàng* 丈 apiece). We read the measure word *liàng*, but there are ancient scholia that say there is no need to distinguish this word from "two" in pronunciation. A measure word is fundamentally a noun, and there are cases of nouns being read in the *qùshēng* — very roughly speaking, the Mandarin fourth tone.

The usage as a measure word gave rise to the sense "tael", because a tael is 24 *zhū* 銖; the *huángzhōng* 黃鍾 'type of ceremonial bell' weighed 12 *zhū* 銖, so twice that amount was called a *liǎng* "two[-fold]". So "tael" is really a derived meaning of the basic word.


---

### Answer by username_5 on 2015-10-28. Score: 1

Great question!

* 两 is unit of two-horse carriage in the Shang Dynasty (c. 1600 - c. 1046 BCE),I think it's around this time that 两 replaced 二.
* 驷(or 乘) is unit of four-horse carriage in the Zhou Dynasty.
* 二 can be numeral(two) and ordinal numeral(second).
* 两 can be numeral(two) and unit of weight.


---

### Answer by username_6 on 2015-07-21. Score: 1

I am not a native speaker, but I am answering, because I feel the previous answers explain the development of the character 兩 and not why it become popular. **Native speakers please correct me. My knowledge is very limited**.

@username_12 has already explained the advantage of having different words for "pair" and ordinal "two". It remains to show why 兩 replaced 二 even in cases where it does not mean pair. From watching 武俠連續劇 it appears that in the past expressions like

> 二位姑娘

were the norm.

**My naive hypothesis**

With the development of vernacular Chinese 個 become the most common measure word. People felt that 兩個 was smoother to articulate than 二個。

To be absolutely clear, even for me it is trivial to say 二個，二個，二個。But 兩個 seems smoother. Just like the 一 in 一個 shifts to second tone for better flow.


---

### Answer by username_7 on 2015-06-26. Score: -2

From a calligraphic perspective, the character 两 represents two people (人人) attached to some kind of vehicle or container. Thus it depicts a more accurate description of two objects or subjects, in opposition to 二 which has a purely numeric meaning.

From the phonetic point of view, it also sounds better, as it is harder to misunderstand its meaning when in a sentence. Remember that in the north of China it is very common to add the sound 'er' (儿) at the end of words or sentences, such as in "你去哪?". But the composite sound "Liǎng" is much less frequent. It is easy to imagine lots of other misunderstandings that could occur in different words, such as "erzi" ("儿子"="one child", whilst "二子"="two children").

> **Comments:**
> **username_8**: I believe OP is looking for the historical reasons behinds it, and he stated that 'I understand that 两 is used instead of 二 when dealing with quantities of two'  
> **username_9**: Sorry but the phonetic part of this answer is wrong, 儿子 means "son", and nobody in China could mistake it for "二子" which do not mean anything anyway, and would not either even using "两子".  
> **username_7**: Exactly what I said: you can imagine that kind of misunderstanding (and many others), but no native speaker will commit it. Further: "historical reasons" are to be based on _facts_ occuring over a time span. Unless you want someone to come with some dumb history such as: "King xxx once used the character on a letter to his wife... blah blah blah... and then everyone used it ever since" that some people are so prone to believe no matter what. The development of language is a dynamic process, not a static state happening at a single point in time.  

---

### Answer by username_10 on 2015-07-25. Score: -2

Learn Chinese Grammar 3 Time of a Day
<https://youtu.be/wJMoZj3as8g>

For detail, you can check through youtube link

* 二 & 兩
  二
  1. a) 102
     b) 332
  2. a) 20
     b) 200
  3. a) 第二
     b) 三點二
     c) 二分之一
     兩
  4. a) 兩千
     b) 兩萬
  5. c) 兩個人
     d) 兩隻手
  6. e) 兩半兒
  7. f) 兩兄弟
     g) 兩姐妹

兩 & 二
1. 二斤 / 兩斤
2. 二尺 / 兩尺
3. 二圓 / 兩圓

> **Comments:**
> **username_11**: Please don't depend on the explanation from another site or a video. Links eventually break, and then this answer will be useless. Please include enough explanation here to be useful, and provide the link to the video for more detail.  

---

