In ancient China during Zhou Dynasty, 'bu' (the old Japanese system of weights and measures) was established as the unit of length, specifying the length of two steps forward (by stepping forward with right leg first and left leg next, and measuring the travelled distance from the starting point to the left foot; this is a unit based on the measurement of human body parts [a anthropomorphic units]).
古代中国の周代に、歩幅2歩分（右足を踏み出し、次に左足を踏み出した時の、起点から踏み出した左足までの長さ）を「歩(尺貫法)」という長さの単位（身体尺）とした。