The Chinese word **先锋** (xiānfēng), meaning "vanguard" or "pioneer," is a compound formed through semantic combination. Its first character, **先** (xiān), means "first," "early," or "ahead," establishing the concept of precedence. The second character, **锋** (fēng), originally means the sharp point or cutting edge of a weapon, such as the tip of a spear, and by extension signifies the forefront or most advanced position. When combined, the literal sense is "the forward spearhead" or "the first edge," a metaphor from military terminology for the troops leading an advance. This structure synthesizes the ideas of being both temporally first (**先**) and positionally at the front line (**锋**), perfectly capturing the essence of a trailblazing entity that leads the way for others.