c1450 Middle Eng. Med. Bk. (Heinrich) 82 Take iij lī [sic] of rosyn, and .i. lī of wax.

1490 W. Caxton tr. Foure Sonnes of Aymon (1885) xiv. 322 Here is xx. li of money.

1521 in E. Hobhouse Church-wardens' Accts. (1890) 74 For a li and a q. wexe.

1634 R. Verney Let. J. Dillon in Forster Gr. Remonstr. (1860) 256 He was fined in foure thousand pounds by some, by others in 5,000^li, in 6,000^li, in 10,000^li.

1588 R. Parke tr. J. G. de Mendoza Hist. Kingdome of China i. vi. 12 The Chino's haue amongst them, but only three kind of measures: the which in their language are called Lii, Pu, and Icham, which is as much as to say, or in effect, as a forlong, league, or iorney.

1827 H. E. Lloyd tr. E. F. Timkovskiĭ Trav. Russian Mission Mongolia to China I. ii. 65 The Chinese li contains two hundred and eighty-five Russian fathoms.

1858 P. L. Simmonds Dict. Trade Products Ly, a Chinese land-measure.

1884 G. Williamson Old Highw. China 209 At a small town forty li from Peking we spent the night.

1886 H. Yule & A. C. Burnell Hobson-Jobson at Lee According to Mr. Giles, 27⁴/ ₅li = 10 miles... From several concurrent statements we may conclude that often the li is generalised so that a certain number of li, generally 100, stand for a day's march.

1771 J. R. Forster tr. P. Osbeck Voy. China I. 262 Kas, which the Chinese call Lai, is the only current coin which is struck in China.

1858 P. L. Simmonds Dict. Trade Products Li, another name for the Chinese copper cash.

1830 Philos. Mag. 2nd Ser. 8 424 (table) Lithia..L̇i 2·25.

1860 H. E. Roscoe Let. 26 Apr. in M. Faraday Corr. (2008) V. 675 If a mixture of the Salts of Ba. Sr. Ca. Mg. Li. K. Na be made.

1907 G. S. Newth Text-bk. Inorg. Chem. (ed. 12) iii. iv. 544 Lithium oxide, Li₂O, is formed when the metal burns in air.

1964 L. H. Van Vlack Elements Materials Sci. (ed. 2) xiii. 389 If a glass is exposed to a hot Li₂SO₄ solution, lithium ions diffuse into the surface zone of the glass.

2008 Jrnl. Affective Disorders 111 340/2 Psychic anxiety, for patients taking Li was significantly greater.

1912 J. J. M. de Groot Relig. of Chinese iv. 95 The original li and teh, the only classical rules and ethics which keep man..in perfect harmony with the order of the universe.

1937 D. Bodde tr. Fung Yu-Lan Hist. Chinese Philos. iv. 46 The ‘Rites’ (Li) were used in diplomatic relations.

1942 D. D. Runes Dict. Philos. 168/1 Li, reason; law; the rational principle. This is the basic concept of modern Chinese philosophy. To the Neo-Confucians.., Reason is the rational principle of existence whereas the vital force (ch'i) is the material principle.

1953 Oxf. Junior Encycl. V. 101/1 The word li used by Confucius, which is often translated by the English word ‘religion’, really means something more like ceremonial or ritual, the correct observance of which is needed for maintaining friendly relations with the Power or Powers of the unseen world.

1955 A. Fang in E. Pound Classic Anthol. p. xvi Read in that context, Confucius must be understood as trying to integrate music with rites (li), just as he tried to integrate poetry with music.

1962 A. F. Wright in Wright & Twitchett Confucian Personalities 7 The li, spread by fathers, village elders, and government officials, and supplemented by the discipline of ordered family life, would in turn foster social virtues: filial submission, brotherliness, righteousness, good faith, and loyalty.

1945 W. B. Honey Ceramic Art China ii. 26 The well-known tripod cooking-vessel after the bronze li.

1958 W. Willetts Chinese Art I. i. 19 That curious emblem of Chinese culture, the li tripod.

1965 T. R. Tregear Geogr. China ii. 47 The li, a very efficient tripod cooking vessel with hollow legs, shaped rather like a goat's udders, sometimes large enough to cook, say, a goose in one leg, an antelope in another and vegetables in a third.

1977 G. Clark World Prehist. (ed. 3) vii. 299 Classical Lungshan ware..included a series of novel forms. These included cooking vessels with solid feet (ting), cauldrons with hollow feet (li), sometimes with necks, spouts and handles (kuei).