嚮

xiàng

guide, direct; incline toward, favor

Meaning

  • Spatial direction: towards, facing, or directed at.
  • Guidance and leadership: to lead, direct, or show the way; a person who provides direction (e.g., a guide, scout, or leader).
  • Psychological inclination: to incline toward, long for, yearn for, or favor (encompassing both emotional aspiration and cognitive preference).

Grammar and usage

  • Verb: Transitive (to lead/guide someone; to favor someone) or intransitive (to long for something).
  • Noun: A guide or leader.
  • Preposition/Adverb: Indicating direction ("towards").

Distinctions

  • Overlap with 向: While frequently interchangeable as markers of direction, 嚮 often signals a shift from purely mechanical spatial movement to movement driven by intent, desire, or authority.

History and forms

  • Simplified variant: 向 (U+5411).

Graphical notes

  • The presence of the 心 (heart) radical associates the glyph with internal states such as intent and yearning.

Translator notes

  • If both 嚮 and 向 appear in the same text, treat 嚮 as the "weighted" term—indicating that the direction is governed by a purpose or an emotion. If only one appears, the translator must determine from context whether the movement is purely spatial or carries this intentional charge.

Decontextualized translator aid. This page describes plausible lexical range; it does not choose what the glyph means in a particular passage.