Lankan gouchuang 闌檻鉤窗 (“balustrade bench and railing window”) is a kind of window supported by a balustrade-like series of posts crowned with a built-in bench for leaning or sitting (kanmianban 檻面版, “railing-top plate” or “railing cap”). Outside the window is an ornate railing supported by goose-neck (鵝項 e’xiang (arched)) balusters which are topped with small cloud-shaped brackets (yungong 雲栱) that hold the support rail (xunzhang 尋杖). This is called a “cloud-bracket goose-neck link-railing” (yungong e'xiang goulan 雲栱鵝項鉤闌). Based on current knowledge, the only extant pre-modern use of this term is in the Yingzao fashi (1103; Li 2009, 7.3b-4b) where it is categorized under xiaomuzuo 小木作 (“small woodwork” or “fine carpentry”). The construction method of the lankan gouchang is recorded in detail in this text, including an accompanying drawing in later chapters (Li 2009, 32.7b).
