Two things or people are essentially the same, equally matched, or equally bad. There is no real difference between them.
In old Chinese weights, one jin (catty) equals 16 liang (taels), so half a jin is exactly eight liang. The saying is used to point out that two seemingly different options are actually equivalent.
This saying uses a clever numerical pun to express a universal truth about equivalence. It is a humorous way to cut through false distinctions and save people from agonizing over meaningless choices.
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