往 wǎng — go, past · English

往

wǎng

go, past

At a glance · 往

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Evolution of the glyph

Five stages, from a sketch of the real object to regular script — tap a stage, drag the timeline, or play the animation.

Object sketchBefore writing · drawing what was seen
Oracle boneShang dynasty · c. 1300–1046 BCE
Seal scriptQin dynasty · 221–206 BCE
Clerical scriptHan dynasty · 206 BCE–220 CE
Regular scriptWei–Jin to Tang · c. 3rd–9th century CE

Object sketchBefore writing · drawing what was seenOracle boneShang dynasty · c. 1300–1046 BCESeal scriptQin dynasty · 221–206 BCEClerical scriptHan dynasty · 206 BCE–220 CERegular scriptWei–Jin to Tang · c. 3rd–9th century CE

⚠ Some ancient forms are not attested：oracle bone form。No excavated oracle bone / seal artifact is attested for this character yet; we leave it blank rather than fabricate.

往字小篆从彳㞷声，为形声字；本义为去、到。甲骨文未见。

What the sketch shows

Origins & notes

往本义为去、前往，引申为过去。

Structure

形声字，左部『彳』为意符表行走，右部『㞷』为声符。

At a glance

Pinyinwǎng

Radical彳

Strokes8

UnicodeU+5F80

Character type形声

Theme动作

Six languages, one character

Each page offers hreflang versions; switching language keeps the glyphs and meanings aligned.

English go, past Wang is a phonetic-semantic character meaning to go and, by extension, the past.

Français aller, passé Wang est un caractère phonético-sémantique signifiant aller et, par extension, le passé.

Español ir, pasado Wang es un carácter fonosemántico que significa ir y, por extensión, el pasado.

العربية يذهب، الماضي وانغ حرف صوتي دلالي يعني الذهاب، ومنه الماضي.

Русский идти, прошлое Ван — фоносемантический знак, означающий идти и, далее, прошлое.

Common words

往来wǎng láicome and go
往事wǎng shìthe past

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