A traditional Chinese dotchin, also known as a daching, steelyard scale used for weighing small quantities of valuable goods such as medicinal herbs, silver, or spices. The instrument is housed in a hand-carved, dark-stained wooden case of characteristic fiddle or pear-shaped form. The case features a pivoting lid which is marked on the exterior with a hand-painted Chinese character in black ink. The internal components include a graduated rod made of bone or ivory, featuring fine, dark circular inlaid dots as measurement markers. A shallow, circular brass weighing pan and a small, rectangular brass poise weight are included, both suspended by their original fine cords.
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