往 (wǎng): towards

Meanings

1 towards
2 to go (in a direction)

Characters

往

wǎng

toward; go; past

Examples

往前走。

Wǎng qián zǒu.

Go forward.

往左拐。

Wǎng zuǒ guǎi.

Turn left.

他往北京去了。

Tā wǎng Běijīng qù le.

He went towards Beijing.

Tips

grammar

往 + direction + verb: 往前走 (walk forward), 往右看 (look right), 往上爬 (climb up).

usage

往 indicates direction of movement and always comes before the direction word.

Components

radical

彳 chì

step; movement

Left step radical — the indexing radical. 往 is fundamentally about going-in-a-direction, so the step radical sits naturally as anchor. Pairs with 来 (come) to form the going/coming opposition; same radical anchors 行 (walk), 待 (wait), 微 (subtle), 律 (statute).

phonetic

主 zhǔ

master (here phonetic)

Right component supplies the sound: zhǔ → wǎng, with significant Old Chinese drift. Pure phonetic — the 'master' meaning of 主 doesn't carry. The original right side was a sprout over 土 'earth' meaning 'plants growing', simplified to 主 by visual approximation in the modern shape.