Taxonomy of meanings for 屋:　　

Additional information about 屋

說文解字: 【屋】，居也。从尸，尸，所主也。 〔小徐本「主」下無「也」。〕 一曰：尸，象屋形。从至，至，所至止。 〔小徐本「止」上無「至」。〕 室、屋皆从至。 〔小徐本「室屋」作「屋室」。〕 【烏谷切】 【𡲃】，籒文屋，从厂。 【𦤿】，古文屋。

Criteria
• HUT
  

  1. The general word for a hut is lú 廬.

  2. Máo wū 茅屋 "thatched cottage" describes a typical countryside dwelling.

• 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]

• ROOF
  

  1. The earliest general word for the roof is wū 屋, which occurs in this meaning in SHIJING, ZUO, and CHUCI. The term can refer both to the roof of aristocratic buildings which was since the early Western Zhou period covered with tiles, or to the thatched roof of ordinary dwellings. Evidence for the shape of the roof in the Zhou period is of course scarce, we can recognize it only from several bronze vessels in the shape of the building and from pictorial presentations on late Chunqiu and early Warring States bronzes. Much better evidence is from the Han. It can be seen that by Han times basic types of Chinese roof had already developed; the most common among them was a saddle-like roof.

  2. Dòng 棟 refers to the ridge-pole of the roof, oriented usually in the east-western direction. It is also general term for the east-western beams in a roof construction.

  3. Jí 极 is another term for the ridge-pole used in pre-Qin times; it does not generally refer to the east-southern beams:

  4. Fú 桴 refers to the east-western beam which is second when counted from the ridge-pole: [HUANG 1995: 1044 - 1045]

  5. Méi 楣 is another term for fú 桴. Later, the word began to be used for the horizontal beam above the door. [HUANG 1995: 1044 - 1045]

  6. Guǐ 庪 refers to the third east-western beam. [HUANG 1995: 1045]

  7. Yǐn (written like 隱 but with 木 radical) and fén 棼 both refer to the highest east-western ridge-pole of the double-roof. [HUANG 1995: 1045]

  8. (I did not find the character) can generally refer to the east-western beams. [HUANG 1995: 1045 - 1046]

  9. Méng 甍 refers to the east-western ridge-pole, but also to the eaves of the roof. [HANYU DACIDIAN: vol. 5, pp. 294]

  10. Lǔ (written 木 Lu Buwei de lu) refers to the beam supporting the rafters of the roof. [HANYU DACIDIAN: vol. 4, pp. 973]

  11. Liù 霤 refers in LIJI and ZUOZHUAN to the eaves of the houses. [HANYU DACIDIAN: vol. 11, pp. 724 - 725]

  12. Chuán 椽 refers to the rafters supporting the tiles; these were usually made of wood, but sometimes also of bamboo, and were usually laid on the beams in one layer. [HUANG 1995: 1054 - 1055]

  13. Jué 桷 is another word for the rafters. It can refer to the rafters generally, but also specifically to the rafters with the square or edged section. [HUANG 1995: 1055]

  14. Cuī 榱 refers to the large rafters which can be decorated with jade pieces hanged down. [HUANG 1995: 1055]

  [15. Lǎo 橑 refers to the rafters of the double roof: HUANG 1995: 1056] [JM]

Word relations
• Assoc: (DWELLING)室/BUILDING 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 táng 堂. The term can also refer to the family or household. See CLAN 2 Attributions
• Synon: (DWELLING)室/BUILDING 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 táng 堂. The term can also refer to the family or household. See CLAN 1 Attribution