Taxonomy of meanings for 觀:　　

Additional information about 觀

說文解字: 【觀】，諦視也。从見、雚聲。 【古玩切】 【𩁰(𥍊)】，古文觀从囧。

Criteria
• SHAPE
  

  1. The most current general word describing the physical shape of something is xíng 形.

  2. Mào 貌 and the much rarer and more abstract biǎo 表 are terms referring to mere external physical outline as opposed to inner reality.

  3. Zhuàng 狀 is the dynamic physical manifestation of something.

  4. Guān 觀 is the visual aspect of something, including its coloration.

  5. Xiàng 相 is the significant external form (including coloration) as indicative of what is behind it.

  6. Xiàng 象 "abstract pattern made by things" is both aesthetic and metaphysical in force and construes appearance as something symbolic of and structurally similar to an underlying reality.

  7. Wén 文 refers to dignified, fine pattern a shape makes.

• READ
  

  1. The general word for reading out a written text (there was probably no silent reading in pre-Buddhist China) was dú 讀. See Platform Sutra Tanjing 2.8.4 for a nice example. NB: reciting texts for oneself was a way of studying these, so that by Han times the word sometimes came close to meaning "study".

  2. Lǎn 覽, guān 觀, and dǔ 睹 can occasionally refer to the running one's eyes over a text (probably mumbling it in the process, but there is no evidence whatever to substantiate this assumption) and thus reading it.

  3. Jiàn 見 can occasionally refer to the looking at a text to see what it says.

  4. Fēng 諷 refers to the current practise of reading a certain text.

• 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.

• 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]

• LOOK UP
  

  1. The most current general word for looking up is zhān 瞻, but this word typically connotes respect or admiration. See also ADMIRE

  2. Áng 昂 (ant. fǔ 俯 "look down") refers to holding one's head high and pushing out one's chest so as to face upwards in an imposing gesture of authority.

  3. Yǎng 仰 (ant. fǔ 俯 "look down") refers to throwing one's head back, but it does not specifically focus on the act of looking in that position.

  4. Wàng 望 refers to looking upwards or forward into the distance.

  仰視,　仰見,　仰望,　仰觀,　仰察

• DREAM
  

  1. The current standard word for a dream is mèng 夢.

  2. Xiōng mèng 凶夢 refers to a nightmare.

  ZHOULI 3 占夢：掌其歲時，觀天地之會，辨陰陽之氣。以日月星辰占六夢之吉凶，一曰正夢，二曰噩夢，三曰思夢，四曰寤夢，五曰喜夢，六曰懼夢。季冬，聘王夢，獻吉夢于王，王拜而受之。乃舍萌于四方，以贈惡夢，遂令始難驅疫。

• THEREFORE
  

  1. 故 is by far the most general Chinese word for THEREFORE, and in the interpretation of the word it is always important to find the semantic scope of the word, i.e. the "reason" or "cause" the particle refers back to. [It is important to distinguish between the pregnant use of 故 THEREFORE from the "bleached" use of 故 THUS "along these lines".　

  2. 是故 is the most common compound word in this synonym group (for which 故 alone may be regarded to be a short form). But 是故 rarely has "bleached" uses and must generally refer to either subjective motivation or objective causation.

  3. 是以 "because of this" almost as common, and seems to me more common as indicating a subjective cause than a concrete causal relation.

  4. 然則 "given this, then" is argumentative and limited to abstract discussion contexts.2. 是以 is also frequent but the word seems to refer to subjective motivations and purposes in especially many important cases.

  5.以此觀之 and 由是觀之 "viewed against this background" are explicitly theoretical in an almost didactic mode.

  6. 故曰 "therefore it is said" typically refers to a helpful relevant and explanatory quotation, often independently known, but it can also refer to the author's expressed opinion elsewhere in the context, and to an emphatic conclusion drawn in an argument.

• INSPECT
  

  1. The general word for inspection are jiān 監 "survey and inspect by higher orders" and guān 觀 which refers very generally to surveying anything, and not necessarily by order of anyone else, but usually in great detail.

  2. Dū 督 is also very common but strictly limited to bureaucratic contexts.

  3. Xún 巡 adds to the notion of bureaucratic inspection that of official travel in order to carry out the inspection involved.

• SURVEY
  

  1. Guān 觀 is to try to get a detailed careful overview of something and to survey something complex with careful analytic attention.

  2. Lǎn 覽 is to look over something (often with pleasure, and typically from a highe perspective) with careful aesthetic and analytic attention and in order to get a full survey of all there is.

Word relations
• Result: (INSPECT)樂/DELIGHT The equally current lè 樂 (ant. āi 哀 "grief") adds to yuè 悅 the dimensions of practical indulgence, psychological and often philosophical depth, and - very often - a dimension of joy that can be shared and appreciated by others, and that is typically lasting if not permanent. See ENJOY 1 Attribution
• Contrast: (INVESTIGATE)視/INVESTIGATE2 Attributions
• Contrast: (INVESTIGATE)察/INVESTIGATE The most general words for investigating something are chá 察 "sort out clearly" and shen 審 "investigate carefully". 2 Attributions
• Contrast: (INVESTIGATE)考 / 考/INVESTIGATE Kǎo 考 and jī 稽 refer to an objective investigation into something on the basis of the best available evidence. 1 Attribution
• Contrast: (READ)讀/READ The general word for reading (which was probably never silent reading in pre-Buddhist China) was dú 讀. NB: reciting texts for oneself was a way of studying these, so that by Han times the word sometimes came close to meaning "study".
• Contrast: (ASSESS)察/INVESTIGATE The most general words for investigating something are chá 察 "sort out clearly" and shen 審 "investigate carefully". 1 Attribution
• Assoc: (INVESTIGATE)參/CHECK The current standard word for cross-checking and veryfying a statement is cān 參 which refers to the cross-checking of a public statement against the realities it claims to refer to. 1 Attribution
• Assoc: (SURVEY)遊 / 游/TRAVEL Yóu 遊／游 refers specifically to travelling for pleasure. 1 Attribution
• Assoc: (SURVEY)見/SEE The clearly dominant word is jiàn 見 (ant. méng 矇 "unable to see") which refers to any act of successful visual perception.
• Assoc: (SURVEY)覽/SURVEY Lǎn 覽 is to look over something (often with pleasure, and typically from a highe perspective) with careful aesthetic and analytic attention and in order to get a full survey of all there is.
• Assoc: (READ)讀/READ The general word for reading (which was probably never silent reading in pre-Buddhist China) was dú 讀. NB: reciting texts for oneself was a way of studying these, so that by Han times the word sometimes came close to meaning "study". 1 Attribution
• Assoc: (INVESTIGATE)鑒/LOOK1 Attribution