Taxonomy of meanings for 室:　　

Additional information about 室

說文解字: 【室】，實也。从宀、从至。至，所止也。 〔小徐本作「從宀、至聲。室、屋皆從至，所止也。」〕 【式質切】

Criteria
• WIFE
  

  1. The most general term for a commoner's female mate is fù 婦 (ant. fū 夫 "husband").

  2. Qī 妻 (ant. fū 夫 "husband") refers to the regular main wife, and specifically to a commoner's main wife.

  3. Nèi 內 refers generically to the harem.

  4. Hòu 后 (ant. wáng 王 "king") refers to a queen. See QUEEN

  5. Shì 室 is a polite circumlocution for a wife.

  6. Aυ 媼 (ant. wēng 翁 "old man") is a general term for a married woman, and the word is marginal in this group because it does not focus on the relationship to the mate.

  7. Fū rén 夫人 is a current phrase for a wife.

• FAMILY
  

  1. The current dominant word is jiā 家 which refers to a whole household, including men, domestic animals and utensils as well as the whole clan system that defines its lineage affiliation.

  2. Zōng 宗 refers unambiguously as a technical term to the lineage group.

  3. Zú 族 refers to the extended lineage group including all manner of in-laws, with the outer boundaries of reference ill-defined.

  4. Shì 室 refers to a (typically substantial or powerful) household with all its appurtenances.

  5. Mén 門 refers to the any complete respectable household including servants and dogs.

  6. Hù 戶 refers to any complete household whatever, often in administrative contexts, with no regard to its status of respectability or political influence.

  7. Nú 孥 is an archaic rare word referring to the members of a family.

  NB: For 氏 and 姓 see NAME.

• MARRY
  

  1. The general term for marriage as such is the relatively rare word hūn 婚 and the even rarer hūn yīn 婚 / 昏姻 which refer to marriage in general and not to marriage as seen from the perspective of one of the parties.

  2. The general term for a man marrying a woman is qǔ 娶 (ant. chū 出 "divorce").

  3. The general term for a woman marrying a man is jià 嫁 (No antonym, since women could not seek divorce.).

  4. Guī 歸 refers to a woman leaving her own clan and moving into ther husband's household.

  5. Qì 妻 refers to the convention of giving away a woman in marriage to a man.

  6. Shì 室 refers to the act of establishing a household through taking a wife.

  7. Shì 適 refers to a woman finding a husband (no doubt as a result of a parental decision, but this is not what is focussed on here).

  8. Gòu 媾 refers to double intermarriage between two clans such that a son or daughter of family X marries into family Y, and in addition another marriage is conducted so that another son or daughter from X marries another son or daughter of family Y.

• ROOM
  

  1. The general word for a room within a house is presumably shì 室, but note in traditional Chinese architecture many kinds of buildings may consist of exactly one room so that the distinction between house and room becomes blurred.

  2. Qin 寑 refers specifically to the bedroom.

  3. Xiāng 廂 refers to the the two rooms on the sides of the main room in the main building.

  4. Fáng 房 refers to a non-main room in a building.

  5. Táng 堂 refers to the (typically elevated) main sitting room or the main wing in any dwelling. See BUILDING.

• BUILDING
  

  1. The most general current word for a building of any kind is gōng 宮. Any gōng 宮 must have an outer wall other than the wall of the house itself. Moreover gōng 宮 may contain minor shì 室 "individual houses" and constitute a kind of traditional "clan condominium". In the Western Zhou and Chunqiu period gōng 宮 referred apparently both to the temples and living mansions of aristocracy: see XIANG 1997: 192; HUANG 1995: 993. During the Warring States, the word was mainly used for palaces of aristocracy and the ruler: see HUANG 1995: 993. After Qin times the word came to refer specifically to palaces. Reference to the outer wall of the gōng 宮 is in the HAOLING chapter of the MOZI. See HUANG 1995: 993. [ill.: HAYASHI 1976: 4-32]

  2. Shì 室 is any building, can be smaller than gōng 宮, need not have an outer surrounding wall. It seems that when inside gōng 宮, shǐ 室 was located behind the main hall táng 堂 : HUANG 1995: 994; ZHGD 1993: 99; ill.: HAYASHI 1976: 4-3. The term can also refer to the family or household: HUANG 1995: 994. See CLAN

  3. Fáng 房 refers to one of the wings on the sides of the main building shì 室, sometimes used as bedrooms. There may be many such xiāng fáng 廂房. [HUANG 1995: 995]

  4. Wū 屋 refers originally to the roof, but from Han times onwards this word can come to replace gōng 宮 in its archaic meanings "family complex of buildings with a surrounding wall". [Evidence is in the ZHOULI: HUANG 1995: 995]

  5. Táng 堂 refers to the hall which seems to serve mainly ceremonial and since the Warring States also political purposes. From Han times táng 堂 in its original meaning was replaced by diàn 殿. [HUANG 1995: 981 - 982; YANG 2000: 170 - 171.]

  6. Diàn 殿 is a large and tall hall, often for audiences, in the palace or in the temple. In this meaning the word came to use in the late Warring States, and in Han times it replaced the term táng 堂. [HUANG 1995: 983 - 984]

  7. Lóu 樓 refers to any building higher than two flooors. It was common in the Han period, and could serve various purposes. [ZHGD 1995: 98; SUN 1991: 186 - 189; ill.: SUN 1991: tab. 47]

  8. Què 闕 are the buildings on both sides of the gate. The oldest textual evidence comes from the Western Zhou (see XIANG 1997: 523), but què 闕 were most common in the Han. Originally, què 闕 were wooden constructions raised on platforms of rammed earth; in the Han period, they were often stone buildings. [HUANG 1995: 988 - 991; SUN 1991: 179 - 182; ill.: SUN 1991: tab. 45.]

  9. Guàn 觀 in the Chunqiu and Warring States referred to the building raised on a platform in front of the gate of the palace. In the Han, guàn 觀 was used as another term for què 闕; besides this, it also referred to other buildings raised on a terrace: HUANG 1995: 986 - 988]

  10. Shà 廈 refers to any high building.

  11. Láng 廊 perhaps refers to any building with column corridor; but textual evidence for Han and pre-Han period is scanty. [HUANG 1995: 1005]

Word relations
• Epithet: (BUILDING)大/BIG The general word is dà 大 (ant. xiǎo 小 "small"). 2 Attributions
• Epithet: (WIFE)側/ACCOMPANY2 Attributions
• Contrast: (ROOM)堂/ROOM Táng 堂 refers to the (typically elevated) main sitting room or the main wing in any dwelling. See BUILDING. 1 Attribution
• Assoc: (FAMILY)宗/FAMILY Zōng 宗 refers unambiguously as a technical term to the lineage group. 2 Attributions
• Assoc: (BUILDING)宅/DWELLING Zhái 宅 refers generally to the abode of anyone of any status, and the word is a polite designation for what is presumed to be a dwelling of some elegance and status.
• Assoc: (BUILDING)宮/DWELLING6 Attributions
• Assoc: (BUILDING)屋/DWELLING Wū 屋 refers originally to the roof, but from Han times onwards this word can come to replace gōng 宮 in its archaic meanings "family complex of buildings with a surrounding wall". 2 Attributions
• Assoc: (PALACE)宮/PALACE The standard word for a palace is gōng 宮, often expanded to wáng gōng 王宮 "royal palace". 2. Gōng diàn 宮殿 is generic. 1 Attribution
• Synon: (BUILDING)屋/DWELLING Wū 屋 refers originally to the roof, but from Han times onwards this word can come to replace gōng 宮 in its archaic meanings "family complex of buildings with a surrounding wall". 1 Attribution
• Oppos: (MARRY)嫁/MARRY The general term for a woman marrying a man is jià 嫁 (No antonym, since women could not seek divorce.). 1 Attribution