A picul /ˈpɪkəl/,[1] dan[2] or tam,[3] is a traditional Asian unit of weight, defined as "as much as a man can carry on a shoulder-pole".

The unit originated in China during the Qin dynasty (221–206 BC), where it was known as the shi (石 "stone").

[6] Following Spanish, Portuguese, British and most especially the Dutch colonial maritime trade, the term picul was both a convenient unit, and a lingua franca unit that was widely understood and employed by other Austronesians (in modern Malaysia and the Philippines) and their centuries-old trading relations with Indians, Chinese and Arabs.

[7] As for any traditional measurement unit, the exact definition of the picul varied historically and regionally.

[8] In 1831, the Dutch East Indies authorities acknowledged local variances in the definition of the pikul.