向 (xiàng): towards

Meanings

1 towards
2 to face
3 direction

Characters

向

xiàng

toward; direction; face

Examples

向前走。

Xiàng qián zǒu.

Walk forward.

他向我挥手。

Tā xiàng wǒ huīshǒu.

He waved at me.

我向老师请假。

Wǒ xiàng lǎoshī qǐngjià.

I asked the teacher for leave.

Tips

grammar

向 indicates direction of an action: 向 + person/direction + verb. Compare: 向他学习 (learn from him), 向南走 (walk south).

Components

radical

口 kǒu

mouth; window; opening

Inner 口 is the entry's indexing radical and represents the actual window in the wall. The whole character pictures a wall with a window facing a direction, which gave rise to the modern meanings face toward, direction, formerly.

ideograph

向 xiàng

facing; toward (upper fused wrapper)

Top three strokes function as a fused house-frame opening downward above the 口 beneath; no longer split into independent CJK components — read as a single stylized silhouette. Historically xiàng pictured a north-facing window in a roof, but the modern shape has fused that image beyond decomposition.