望

• Physical Gaze: To peer, scan, or watch for something on the horizon; looking into the distance.
• Astronomical/Calendrical: The full moon, specifically the 15th day of the lunar month (standing in opposition to the new moon).
• Mental Projection: To hope for, expect, or long for a desired future event.
• Social Standing: Reputation or prestige; the state of being "looked toward" by others as a figure of importance.

• Transitive: Takes an object (the person, place, or outcome being sought).
• Intransitive/Absolute: Describes a state of longing or the act of looking out without a specified target.
• Noun: Used to denote "the full moon" or "reputation."

• Contrast with 看 (kàn): While 看 is a general term for "look" or "read," 望 specifically implies a spatial gap between the observer and the object.
• Comparison with 希 and 盼: All three can mean "hope," but 望 retains the visual metaphor of looking toward a target. Note that 盼 is generally a later development and may not appear in early archaic texts.

• Semantic variant: U+6722 (functionally equivalent).

// Tang-period reading: //miɑng miɑ̀ng.

When selecting a translation, determine the nature of the "distance" involved: physical (peering/scanning), calendrical (the full moon), temporal (hoping/expecting), or social (reputation/prestige).