漢字Kanji · in Tools & Weapons
方: direction, person
Also: alternative
Oracle bone · Shang Bronze · Shang Small seal · Qin Today
Oracle bone, bronze and small seal: Academia Sinica 小學堂, CC0. Today’s form: KanjiVG, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Three readings, and the words that use each
ホウhou · on'yomi · in compounds
- 方向ほうこうdirection
- 方言ほうげんdialect
- 地方ちほうarea
- 方針ほうしんpolicy, principle
かたkata · kun'yomi · on its own
- 話し方はなしかたway of talking
- 仕方しかたway, method, style
- 父方ちちかたfather's side of family
-がた-gata · kun'yomi
- 夕方ゆうがたevening
- 先生方せんせいがたteachers, doctors
Also read -かた, with no example words in our sources. Words: Kanji alive, CC BY 4.0.
Where it comes from
Origin · sourced
Possibly the original character of 旁 (“side”), with its form related to 巫. 巫 depicts four extremities with indicator symbols, being the original character of 荒 in 四荒.
Source: Wiktionary, 方 (rev. 92535814), CC BY-SA 4.0
Memory story · made up to help you remember
“The base kanji for a cardinal direction, a specific way of performing a task, or the "side" one takes in a debate.”
Connections
方 gives its sound to
The family reading is ボウ (bou). Sound parts: KanjiVG.
In ChineseSame character in simplified and traditional · fāng
Same form: 方 is written the same way in mainland China (simplified) and in Taiwan and Hong Kong (traditional).
- Simplified
- 方 mainland China, Singapore
- Traditional
- 方 Taiwan, Hong Kong
Pinyin fāng most common reading
Forms and pinyin: Unicode Unihan database (Unicode License v3). Pinyin lists the most common reading, not every reading.