Chinese symbol for “formerly”
向
xiàng
towards; to face; to turn towards; direction
The closest CC-CEDICT match for formerly is 向 (xiàng), defined as: towards; to face; to turn towards; direction; to support; to side with.
Before using these characters for a tattoo, check them with a native speaker. Dictionary words often have several meanings, and the right choice depends on context.
Characters and stroke order
Other Chinese words for “formerly”
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 前 | qián | front; forward |
| 以往 | yǐ wǎng | in the past; formerly |
| 以前 | yǐ qián | before; formerly |
| 从前 (從前) | cóng qián | previously; formerly |
| 原来 (原來) | yuán lái | original; former; originally; formerly; at first |
Related words
Other words that share a character with 向.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 方向 | fāng xiàng | direction; orientation |
| 走向 | zǒu xiàng | direction; strike (i.e. angle of inclination in geology) |
| 倾向 (傾向) | qīng xiàng | trend; tendency |
| 转向 (轉向) | zhuǎn xiàng | to change direction; fig. to change one's stance |
| 面向 | miàn xiàng | to face; to turn towards; geared towards; catering for; -oriented; (Tw) aspect; facet |
See also: Japanese symbol for “formerly”.
Data: CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0); Unihan Database (Unicode License v3); Make Me a Hanzi (Arphic Public License (graphics.txt); LGPL-3.0-or-later (dictionary.txt)); wordfreq (CC BY-SA 4.0 (data)). Retrieved 2026-10-22.