gōng
noun HSK 6 #3,222

Measure Word

zuò

Meanings

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

Examples

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

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