Abstract: As a pair of transportation tools on water, zhou and chuan have the common signified, but they are different in more ways. The wordzhou appeared in official language in pre-Qin period, but chuan, as a word in some dialects entered the language in the mid-Warring States period and replaced zhou and became popular in people's speech. At the same time, zhou refers to the ship of small size, while chuan is a kind of ship in largersize