Taxonomy of meanings for 樓:　　

Additional information about 樓

說文解字: 【樓】，重屋也。 〔小徐本無「也」。〕 从木、婁聲。 【洛矦切】

Criteria
• 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]

• SHIP
  

  1. The general term for any ship, large or small, is zhōu 舟. [The word occurs already in the oracle bone inscriptions and in SHIJING. According to some opinions it originally referred to the boat made of one piece of wood, but it is not certain. The earliest forms of the character resemble the small ship made already from several planks. Note that in Western Zhou times, ship also played certain role in some rituals performed by the king, which probably took place in the pool within royal palace.

  2. Chuán 船／舡 is a colloquial general term for a ship which emerged in Warring States times and became current under the Han. The word can refer specifically to larger ships. The word is still unknown in LUNYU and ZUOZHUAN, where the only general term for a ship is still zhōu 舟.

  3. Háng 杭／航 refers specifically to a ferry and became current first in Han times. (From the Warring States period, only the former character is known, the latter form came to be used in Han times. The word refers specifically to a ferry, but can be used also as a general term for a ship.

  4. Sōu 艘 is another general word for a ship which was in use particularly from the Han till Tang, and it was usually used as a measure word for a ship.

  5. Yú 俞 refers in SHUOWEN and HUAINANZI to the boat made of one piece of wood, the monoxylon. Whether the term referred to this type of boat in general already since early times is not certain. Note that one monoxylon (3,9 m long) dating from Shang times was found in Shandong province.

  6. Bó 舶 originally referred specifically to the large sea ships of the foreign traders reaching Canton area. Later it came to refer generally to large or sea ship.

  7. Fāng chuán 方船, fāng 舫 (the latter word first appeared in the Warring States period and became more current in Han times) refer to the double ship, ship consisting of two joined boats. This kind of ship could be used for various purposes (for transportation of goods or soldiers, as a warship, or to cross a river), and was in use at least from the Warring States period till Tang; the period during it most flourished was neverthless Jin dynasty.

  8. Gě 舸 refers generally to a large ship; according to FANG YAN, in Han times the word was used in an area on the middle reaches of Chang jiang.

  9. Biàn 艑 refers to the large ship, used probably mainly for transportation of goods, which was used in the middle and lower reaches of the Chang jiang.

  10. Tà 榻 is the general word for a large ship, which was in use mainly from the North Southern dynasties till Tang period.

  11. Cáo 艚 is the post-Buddhist word referring to the transportation ship. It was large and slow.

  12. Líng (written like 舟令 ) refers specifically to the small ship with vindows. In the Warring States and Han period, it was in use particularly in the area of ancient states Wu and Yue.

  13. Dāo 刀 / (written like 舟刀 ) refers to a small boat. The word occurs already in SHIJING.

  14. Mù sù (written like 舟冒; 舟宿 chā 艖 ) all refer to the small and narrow boats, and according to FANG YAN, were used in the middle reaches of Chang jiang.

  15. Tǐng 艇 refers to the boat even smaller than the previous, with space for one or two people. According to HUAINANZI, this was originally used in the area of Sichuan.

  16. Qióng (written like 舟共 ) refers to the small boat used mainly in the middle reaches of the Chang jiang.

  17. Lì 麗 refers to a small boat. The word occurs already in ZHUANGZI.

  18. Dié 艓 refers to the small boat.

  19. Zé měng 舴艋 refers to the small boat.

  20. (I can not find a character in the dictionary: written like 舟鳥 ) refers to the small and narrow boat.

  21. Sān yì 三翼 refers to the battleships which were in use in the southern states of Wu and Yue in Chunqiu and Warring States times. It seems that they were divided to three categories according to their size. According to Han sources, the largest ones had a space for 91 men, those of middle size for 50 men, and minor for 26 men. Note that the earliest ship battle is mentioned in ZUOZHUAN to 549 B.C., and it took place on a river; the first sea battle is dated to 484 B.C. As can be seen on pictorial presentations dating from the late Chunqiu and early Warring States period, ship battles esentially resembled battles on the earth; the ships pulled with oars came close one to the other and warriors staying on the higher board attacked enemies with arrows, halberds, and spears.

  22. Yú huáng 余 / 艅皇 / 艎 was in Chunqiu times the name of the large battleship belonging to the kings of Wu. Later it came to be used as a general term for a large battleship.

  23. Mào tū 冒突 came to use in the Eastern Han period and referred to the battleship which could directly clash into the ship of enemies.

  24. Lóu chuán 樓船 refers to the battleship with several boards. These came to use already in the late Chunqiu period, and were used till Ming times.

  25. Gē chuán 戈船 refers to the large battleship which was in use from the late Chunqiu till the Southern and Northern dynasties. It obtained its name from halberds and spears put on its board; perhaps general word for a battleship (???).

  26. Méng chōng 艨童舟童 refers to a smaller battleship used to clash into the battleships of enemies. It has two boards, the lower for oarmen and higher for warriors; moreover it was covered with fresh oxen skins to defend firearrows of the enemies. In use since the Three Kingdoms.

  27. Jiàn 艦 refers to the large battleship with wooden battlements which came to be used in the Three Kingdoms.