刻 is a measurement of time. How long is 1 刻?
One of the most commonly used words in our daily lives is the word Now. We hear it all the time: at work, in school, from advertisements, emails, blah blah blah..
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One way to say Now or Immediately in Chinese is 立刻 lì kè.
立 lì has several meanings. In this context, it means immediate or instantaneous.
刻 kè here refers to an unit of time.
For example, in the phrase 刻不容缓 kè bù róng huǎn, 刻 is also referencing time.
容 róng = allow or tolerate ; 缓 huǎn = slow or delay
It means something so urgent that it tolerates no delay, not even 1 刻.
Quiz time
So how long is 1 刻?
A) 1 minute
B) 15 minutes
C) 2 hours
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Answer
A) 1 minute
B) 15 minutes
C) 2 hours
1 刻 is actually 15 minutes (or 14.4 minutes to be exact).
In the Chinese traditional time system, 1 day was divided into 100 equal units called 刻 kè.
So, 1 刻 = (24 hours x 60 minutes ) / 100 = 14.4 minutes.
In today's usage, 刻 is simply a quarter of an hour. You might come across it in the following instances:
3.15pm 三点一刻 sān diǎn yī kè
5.45pm 五点三刻 wǔ diǎn sān kè
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