Liu Chenggui (, originally 劉承珪; 951–1016), posthumous name Zhongsu (忠肅), was a government official of the Chinese Northern Song dynasty.
He was the official in charge of the court treasury upon the ascension of Emperor Taizong in 976, and was charged with the task of standardizing the weights and measures. After a thorough examination, he determined that the existing measurement devices were largely not up to the task, and proceeded to research and develop a new type of balance that was later known as the (). Because of its small size and precision, the continued on for centuries as a tool for weighing precious metals and medicines. He also used to kinds of to cast standard weights in series and promulgate them throughout the empire.Qiu Guangming 丘光明. Zhong guo gu dai ji liang shi 中國古代计量史 [The history of ancient Chinese measures and weights]. Translated by Zhang Yanming 张延明. (Hefei: Anhui kexue jishu chubanshe, 2012): 120-121.
References
Further reading Guo Zhengzhong. "The Deng Steelyards of the Song Dynasty (960-1279): In Commemoration of the One Thousandth Anniversary of their Manufacture by Liu Chenggui," tr. Li Qinming and Hans Ulrich Vogel. In Jean-Claude Hocquet (ed.), Une activité universelle: Peser et mesurer à travers les âges (Acta Metrologiae IV, VIe Congres International de Metrologie Historique, Cahiers de Métrologie, Tomes 11–12, 1993–1994), pp. 297–306. Caen: Editions du Lys, 1994