About
The character "往" originates from the concept of going or proceeding, and its contemporary form is structured with the radical "彳", denoting movement, alongside the component "主", which functions phonetically but historically stems from a pictographic element connoting upward growth. Initially expressing physical movement away from a point, its meaning gradually extended to temporal directions, now primarily used to reference the past or former times, as evident in terms like "往年" (past years) and "往事" (past events). This shift from spatial to temporal reference illustrates a semantic evolution without formal alteration to the character.
Etymology Hide
Example Sentences Hide
我往家里跑。
他往公园走去。
请往这边来。
火车往北京开。
我们往往去那里吃饭。
他往我的账户里存钱。
往好的方面想，事情会变好的。
随着时间往后退，记忆逐渐模糊。