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向

Mandarin · pinyin xiàng#

Mandarin · pinyin Xiàng#

surname Xiang

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向: xiàng · toward, direction, trend

Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

4 · xiang4

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1character link20same-tone records

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Read this spelling in Classical texts

Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 18 senses · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

hoeng3

Cantonese word readings for 向. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

character · Etymology 1

to face
to side with; to favour; to discriminate in favour of
(Hokkien) to lean; to slant; to tilt; to list; to slope; to incline
(Hokkien) to stoop; to bend down
(Quanzhou and Zhangzhou Hokkien) to monopolize food
(Hokkien) to expect; to hope; to favor
(literary) to admire; to revere
(literary) to approach; to advance towards
direction
towards; to
(literary) the old days; the past
always; throughout
(Taivoan religious concept) sorcery, taboo, and magic
(chiefly ACG, suffix forming attributive adjectives) for (directed at, intended to belong to)

character · Etymology 1

an ancient state in modern Shandong
name of two places in modern Henan
a surname

character · Etymology 1

(Teochew) that; in that manner; that much (modifies adjectives)

Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history

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