Taxonomy of meanings for 館:　　

  • 館 guàn (OC: koons MC: kʷɑn) 古玩切 去 廣韻：【館舍也周禮五十里有市市有館館有積以待朝聘之客俗作舘 】
    • DWELL
      • viactspend the night in a hostel/hotel for visitors
      • vt+prep+Ntake up quarters
    • GUEST HOUSE
      • nhigh-level guest house for ordinary official visitors; a fairly well-appointed dwelling
      • vtoNhouse (someone) in a guest house
    • PUBLIC BUILDING
      • nXINTANGSHU: office
    • SCHOOL
      • nprivate school
  • 館 guǎn (OC: ruulʔ MC: luoi) 古緩切 上 廣韻：【 】

    Additional information about 館

    說文解字: 【館】，客舍也。从食、官聲。《周禮》：五十里有市，市有館，館有積，以待朝聘之客。 【古玩切】

      Criteria
    • HOTEL

      1. The current literary word for a hotel is nì lu# 逆旅.

      2. Kè shè 客舍 is a colloquial word for a hotel open to the general public.

      NB the very popular 王仁興，中國旅館史話， 1984

    • DWELL

      1. The current general words for dwelling in a place for some considerable time are jū 居 and chǔ 處 (all ant. xíng 行 "travel").

      2. Shè 舍 and sù 宿 refer to spending the night in a certain place.

      3. Guǎn 館 refers to spending the night in a visitor's hostel (which is China's ancient answer to a hotel).

      4. Qī 棲 refers to a temporary or non-voluntary stay of any length, typically of an informal kind. See ROOST

      5. Xìn 信 is sometimes used as a technical term for staying in a place for two nights.

      6. Cì 次 is sometimes used as a technical term for spending more than two days in a certain place.

      7. Jì 寄 and yù 寓 refer to staying in some place for a strictly limited space of time.

      8. Jùn 軍 refers specifically to an army encamping in a certain place for a limited time.

      NB: Zhù 住 is post-Buddhist (SIX DYNASTIES)

    • GUEST HOUSE

      1. The general word for an official resthouse of any kind is shè 舍, but the word also refers specifically to non-official "hotels" on the roadside.

      2. Guǎn 館 refers to the most distinguished guesthouses in a state, designed for state visitors.

      3. Dǐ 邸 became current in Han times and refers to a state guesthouse for distinguished visitors, often foreigners.

      4. Chuán shè 傳舍 refers to a middle-level resthouse.

      Word relations
    • Contrast: (GUEST HOUSE)舍/GUEST HOUSE The general word for an official resthouse of any kind is shè 舍, but the word also refers specifically to non-official "hotels" on the roadside.