Taxonomy of meanings for 臺 / 台:　　

Additional information about 臺

說文解字: 【臺】，觀四方而高者。 〔小徐本「者」下有「也」。〕 从至、从 㞢 、从高省，與室、屋同意。 〔小徐本作「從至、高省，與室、屋同意。之聲。」〕 【徒哀切】 〔小徐本此字次於「臸()」字之後。〕

Criteria
• TOWER
  

  1. The most current general word for an elevated building erected for pleasure is tái 臺, and the word refers originally to a raised platform with stairs leading up to it, and with balustrades. In ancient China, most of important building were raised on platforms built of rammed earth. This custom spread already in the third millenium B.C. Since these times, large platforms without substantial buildings on it were also known, and they probably served to important public purposes. In the Chunqiu period, tái 臺 were often part of palaces. The period during which raised platforms - built for pleasure - most flourished was nevertheless the Warring States and Han. [HUANG 1995: 1116 - 1117]

  2. Què 闕 refers to the towers built by the city gates or close to other main entrances, part of the function of which was to guard against evil spirits. Representations of these are extremely common throughout Han reliefs.

  3. Xiè 榭 is a platform with a pavilion, and the word can also refer to the pavilion as such. The term sometimes also refers to a building used for military purposes, perhaps in the form of an open pavilion.

  4. Tíng 停／亭 refers to an observation post in the form of an open-wall pavilion. The word also generally refers to the pavilion with open walls which can be built everywhere. It can be, but not necesarilly, raised on a high platform.

  5. Guàn 觀 is a pavilion built in a high place, and with a good view. It was originally part of a palace, later it could be built everywhere.

• SLAVE
  

  1. The standard general word for a dependent low-status servant or slave is nú 奴, and this word became quite currrent in Han times.

  2. Yì 役 tends to focus on the hard labour involved.

  3. Lǔ 虜 focusses prototypically on the prisoner-origins of a slave.

  4. Lì 隸 refers to slaves in an administrative bureaucratic way, and prototypically these menial workers are in public employment, being thus of higher status than mere shepherds or stable-boys in the countryside.

  5. Zānghuò 臧獲 is the standard exampe of the name of a slave.

  Slavery and servant-hood not always easy to distinguish, and this is for very interesting social reasons. A scheme for the place of menials in the status system is systematised in a crucial ZUO Zhao 7 passage:

  故王臣公，公臣大夫，大夫臣士，士臣皁，皁臣輿，輿臣隸，隸臣僚，僚臣僕，僕臣臺。

  馬有圉，牛有牧，

Word relations
• Epithet: (TOWER)高/HIGH The manifestly dominant general word is gāo 高(ant. bēi 卑 "low" and xià 下 "low") which refers to concrete as well as abstract elevation. 3 Attributions
• Assoc: (TOWER)池/POND The most common word for an artificial lake of any kind is chí 池, and this word typically refers to a meandering lake, sometimes close in shape to a moat, particularly round elevated terraces and the like, around gardens and orchards, but also as part of palaces. 3 Attributions
• Assoc: (TOWER)榭/TOWER Xiè 榭 is a platform with a pavilion, and the word can also refer to the pavilion as such. The term sometimes also refers to a building used for military purposes, perhaps in the form of an open pavilion. 4 Attributions