xiàng, xiǎng
toward
Depicts a mouth (口) in a closed space (宀) making an echo sound. Based on the original meaning "echo; sound", now written as 響. The meaning later shifted to "direction" and "toward".
Evolution

Oracle script
(~1250-1000 BC)
Bronze script
Early Western Zhou (~1000 BC)
Seal script
Shuowen (~100 AD)
Clerical script
Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)Regular script
ModernDefinitions
xiàng
toward, direction, trend; towards; to face; to turn towards; direction; to support; to side with; shortly before; formerly; always; all along; (suffix) suitable for ...; oriented to ...
Xiàng
surname Xiang
xiǎng
once upon time; period of time
xiàng
variant of 向[xiàng]; orientation; to turn toward; to
xiàng
to tend toward; to guide
Component uses
Meaning component in 1 character (1 verified)
Sources