About
The character "方" originally depicted a tool used for tilling soil, a connection that informs its early and fundamental meaning of a square plot of cultivated land. From this concrete notion of a bounded area, its semantic field expanded logically to encompass the idea of direction, as in the points of a square, and further to denote a locality or region. Its structural simplicity, essentially a symmetrical container-like form, remained constant while its applications grew more abstract, coming to signify a prescribed method, a formula, or a moral principle, thereby carrying both spatial and conceptual dimensions. This inherent stability in form allowed it to function effectively as a semantic component in many other characters, often contributing meanings related to direction or locality, while its core interpretations of squareness, direction, and method continue to coexist in modern usage.
Etymology Hide
Example Sentences Hide
这样很方便。
你知道方向吗？
他在学习方面很努力。
我们应该多方面考虑。
这个方案需要修改。
他的行为方式很独特。
从多方面来看，这个问题很复杂。
在制定方案时，必须考虑所有相关方面。