The word 真相 is formed by combining two conceptual building blocks: 真 (zhēn), meaning "true" or "real", and 相 (xiàng), meaning "appearance" or "face". It is not merely adding "true" to "appearance", but rather fusing them to create a new, unified concept: the genuine, often hidden, face or state of a matter, the ultimate reality behind outward appearances. It evokes the idea of revealing what is authentically there, moving from a superficial view to an uncovered, factual core.