公房 (gōng fáng) — public housing (owned by the state or a work unit)

Definition

Housing owned and allocated by the state or a work unit (单位), a key feature of urban China before the 1990s housing reforms. Tenants did not own the unit and paid only nominal rent.

noun
public housing (owned by the state or a work unit)
Measure word · 套
Easily confused

Examples

  • 公房。
    Tā zhù zài dān wèi de gōng fáng lǐ.
    He lives in the work unit's public housing.
  • 公房。
    Yǐ qián hěn duō chéng shì jū mín dōu fēn dào le gōng fáng.
    In the past, many urban residents were allocated public housing.
  • 公房，。
    Zhè xiē gōng fáng yǐ jīng lǎo jiù, xū yào wéi xiū.
    These public housing units are old and need repairs.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

公gōngpublic
房fánghouse

公 gives public and 房 gives house, forming a publicly owned house.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

One theory sees 公 as a picture of a wide-mouthed, round-bottomed jar.

Open 公 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
戶戶hùdoor
Sound part声符shēngfú
方
方fāng房fáng
Same sound today

房 pairs 戶 (door) with 方 (fāng) as a sound part; 方 can also fit 'side,' as in a side room beside the main room.

Open 房 →

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