xiàng / xiāng
noun #1,626

Meanings

  1. 1 appearance; looks
  2. 2 photograph; portrait
  3. 3 government minister; chancellor
  4. 4 phase (physics)
  5. 5 to appraise by physical features; to read fortune by physiognomy

Examples

HSK 3
Zhào xiàng de shíhòu xiào yīxià!
Smile a bit when taking a photo!
HSK 7-9
Yīngguó shǒuxiàng jīntiān hé Rìběn shǒuxiàng huìmiàn.
The British prime minister is meeting the Japanese prime minister today.
HSK 7-9
Tā zhǎngxiàng hěn héshàn.
He has a kind face.

Tips

usage
As a noun covers everything to do with outward form: a face (长相), a photo (相片), a stance (亮相), even a state of a wave (相位). The 'minister' sense comes from the official whose job was to look over state affairs - 首相, 宰相, 丞相.
culture
看相 is traditional Chinese physiognomy - reading character and fortune off a face or palm (手相). Still common at temple fairs and on dating-app profiles. Pair it with 属相 (your zodiac animal) and you have a full folk-astrology kit.

Components

radical
eye
Right side (eye) - Kangxi radical #109. The eye on the tree picks out an outward form - a face, a photo, a wave's phase, even the bearing of a minister inspecting state affairs.
semantic
tree; wood
Left side (tree) - the original object being inspected. The act of judging a tree's quality became the abstract 'judge by appearance' that powers (look, photo, minister, physiognomy).

Stroke Order

xiàng