Although titled Twelve Buildings, most of the stories in this collection do not focus on the buildings. However, in "San-Yu-Lou", the building (San-Yu-Lou) is not only described in details, but also seen as a significant functional image in the story. San-Yu-Lou plays a key role in the interaction of the characters. The story unfolds as the building is constructed, sold and regained. This paper analyzes three key points in the story of "San-Yu-Lou", from the perspective of material culture, so as to illustrate how the building becomes a work of art and how it is converted to a piece of commodity. The purpose of the analysis is to gain insight into the author’s intention behind some contradictory plots