Taxonomy of meanings for 壇:
- 壇 tán (OC: daan MC: dɑn) 徒干切 平 廣韻：【封土祭處徒干切十五 】
- ALTAR
- naltar, sacrificial mound; sacrificial platform; high ground round a building used for ritual or sacrificial purposes
- nfigurativealtar (of poetry)> the Parnassus
- viactbuild an altar, establish an altar
- associated
object>VESSEL
- metaphorical>BASIS
- nbasisCH
- container>TEMPLE
- part
of>TOWER
- surroundings>GARDEN
- attached institution>SCHOOL
- attached
building>COURT
- related humans>GROUP
- abstract>PUBLIC SPHERE
- related activity>SACRIFICE
- ISLAND
- CLASSIFIER
- =廛VILLAGE
- ALTAR
- da4n
Additional information about 壇
說文解字: 【壇】，祭場也。 〔小徐本作「祭壇場也。」〕 从土、亶聲。 【徒干切】
- Criteria
- ALTAR
[+FIGURATIVE/LITERAL]
[GENERAL/SPECIFIC]
1. Tán 壇 is the general word for an altar of any kind.
[GENERAL], [LITERAL]
2. Shè 社 "altar of the land" is one of the major religious institutions of ancient China.
[LITERAL], [SPECIFIC]
3. Jì 稷 "altar dedicated to the gods of grain" is mostly used in conjunction with shè 社 and does not, by itself, represent such an important institution in Chinese cultural history.
[LITERAL], [SPECIFIC]
4. Shè jì 社稷 "altars of the land and grain" is also the standard Chinese term for what we might call "the Nation" in modern English, because the essence of a state was seen to be contained in the local sacrifices undertaken at these altars of the land and grain. There is characteristic semantic oscillation between the meaning ALTAR and the meaning NATION. See NATION.
[+FIGURATIVE], [SPECIFIC]
5. Jiāo 郊 refers to the suburban altar in the vicinity of a city.
[LITERAL], [SPECIFIC]