gōng
noun HSK 6 #3,222

Measure Word

zuò

Meanings

  1. 1 palace
  2. 2 temple
  3. 3 womb (medical)

Examples

HSK 2
Shàoniángōng shì háizimen kèwài huódòng de dìfāng.
The Children's Palace is a place for kids' extracurricular activities.
HSK 7-9
Gùgōng shì Běijīng zuì zhùmíng de jǐngdiǎn.
The Forbidden City is Beijing's most famous attraction.
HSK 7-9
Zhè zuò gōngdiàn yǒu wǔbǎi nián de lìshǐ.
This palace has five hundred years of history.

Tips

usage
Common compounds: 故宫 (Forbidden City), 宫殿 (palace), 少年宫 (Children's Palace), 子宫 (uterus). The radical (roof) hints at a grand covered building.
memory
Picture a roof over two stacked rooms - a grand building with many chambers: a palace.

Components

radical
mián
roof; house (radical form)
Top roof radical - the indexing component. Marks as an architectural structure: a great covered building. The same radical anchors (home), (room), (temple), 宿 (lodge).
semantic
spine; linked chambers
Bottom - two stacked squares pictured as rooms or chambers linked one to another. Beneath the great roof above, the whole image becomes a many-roomed building: the canonical palace with its courts, halls, and inner chambers. The same stacking image appears in (camp).

Stroke Order

gōng