桿秤是利用槓桿原理來測量重量。在秤桿上移動秤錘，當秤桿達到平衡時，即可得到受秤物的重量。臺灣作家賴和的著作「一桿秤仔」裡所講的就是日本時期的桿秤。1945年臺灣光復以後，桿秤依舊是當時民間主要衡器，一直到1970年代才被彈簧秤以及後來的電子秤所取代。

The steelyard operates on the principle of leverage to measure weight. By moving the weight along the steelyard the weight of the object being measured can be determined when the steelyard reaches balance. The Taiwanese writer, Lai He, discusses the steelyard in his work “A Steelyard ,” which refers to the type used during the Japanese period. After the restoration of Taiwan in 1945, the steelyard remained a primary weighing instrument among the public until it was gradually replaced by spring scales and later electronic scales in the 1970s.