ZHIZHI 知止 · LEARN CHINESE DAILY

mutual; each other

xiāng
9 strokes · 木 (tree) + 目 (eye) · HSK 3

Where 相 comes from

An eye 目 peering at a tree 木 — to inspect, to look at. Looking goes both ways, so 相 came to mean 'mutually'. Read xiàng, it's the look itself: appearance, photograph.

相 in Chinese culture

相信 'believe', 相同 'identical', 互相 'each other'. As xiàng: 照相 take a photo, 相机 camera. Old China's 宰相 (prime minister) was literally 'the one who watches over'.

Example

相信 xiāngxìn — to believe

我相信你能做到。
Wǒ xiāngxìn nǐ néng zuòdào.
I believe you can do it.

How to remember it

An EYE watching a TREE — two things facing each other: MUTUAL.

相声 xiàngsheng, China's beloved comic crosstalk, literally means 'mutual voices' — two performers bouncing off each other.

Same sound, different tones

1st xiāng
mutual
2nd xiáng
detailed
3rd xiǎng
to think

Words unlocked by 相

相信 xiāngxìn
to believe
互相 hùxiāng
each other

Related characters

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