漢字Kanji · in Human Body & People
向: yonder, facing
Also: beyond, confront, defy, tend toward, approach
口 carries the meaning · 丿 and 冂 are drawn in
Five readings, and the words that use each
コウkou · on'yomi · in compounds
- 向上心こうじょうしんaspiration
- 方向ほうこうdirection
- 傾向けいこうtendency
- 動向どうこうtrend, movement
- 対向車たいこうしゃoncoming car
- 転向するてんこうするshift, switch
むけるmukeru · kun'yomi · on its own
- 向けるむけるlet turn towards [v.t.]
-むけ-muke · kun'yomi
- 子供向けこどもむけfor children
むかうmukau · kun'yomi
- 向かうむかうgo towards [v.i.]
むこうmukou · kun'yomi
- 向こうむこうover there
Also read むく, むい, -むき, むかい, むこう-, むこ, むかい, with no example words in our sources. Words: Kanji alive, CC BY 4.0.
Where it comes from
Origin · sourced
Ideogrammic compound (會意)宀 house + 口 mouth
Ideogrammic compound (會意): 宀 (“house”) + 口 (“mouth”), echos in a place. The original form of 響.
Source: Wiktionary, 向 (rev. 93608950), CC BY-SA 4.0
Memory story · made up to help you remember
“Open your mouth wide and what do you see? A simple, sturdy square!”
Connections
Easy to confuse
The difference, side by sideIn ChineseSame character in simplified and traditional · xiàng
Same form: 向 is written the same way in mainland China (simplified) and in Taiwan and Hong Kong (traditional).
- Simplified
- 向 mainland China, Singapore
- Traditional
- 向 Taiwan, Hong Kong
Pinyin xiàng most common reading
Forms and pinyin: Unicode Unihan database (Unicode License v3). Pinyin lists the most common reading, not every reading.