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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.

has several meanings. In this context, it means immediate or instantaneous.

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.

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 .

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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