Wei Collection, Lower Volume Radical: Boat (zhōu) Character: Lou Kangxi Stroke Count: 17 Page 1012, Entry 22 Pronounced lou. Lou, a type of boat. According to the Corrected Characters (Zhengzitong), lou was originally written as the character for tower. In the History of the Han Dynasty (Hanshu), during the reign of Emperor Wu, when the Nanyue state rebelled, he repaired Kunming Lake and constructed tower-ships over ten zhang high.