How to Write 相 (xiāng/xiàng) — Meaning “each other / appearance / phase”

Imagine two people standing under a tree (木), looking at each other (目) — that mutual gaze represents 'each other' (xiāng). For the meaning 'appearance,' picture the tree (木) as a face and the eye (目) as the main feature you notice first.

Write the left radical 木 first: horizontal stroke, vertical stroke, left-falling diagonal, right-falling diagonal — note that the vertical stroke goes through the horizontal. Then add the right radical 目 as a tall rectangle: left vertical, top horizontal, inner horizontal strokes, bottom horizontal. A common mistake is making 木 too narrow or spacing the two parts too far apart; they should fit snugly together.

相 (xiāng/xiàng) means 'each other' or 'appearance' and combines 木 and 目. 盯 (dīng) means 'to stare' and uses 目 with 丁 (nail), focusing on fixed eye contact. 盱 (xū) means 'to open eyes wide' and uses 目 with 于, often in ancient contexts. Visually, 相 has a tree on the left, while 盯 and 盱 have different left components (丁 and 于).

相 is very common in words like 相信 (believe, literally 'mutual trust'), 相当 (quite/fairly), and 相貌 (appearance). In Chinese culture, 相 also appears in idioms such as 相辅相成 (complement each other) and is used in traditional face-reading (面相, face reading) to describe facial features. It's a versatile character that can indicate interaction or observation.

Common words containing 相 include: 相信 (xiāng xìn) — believe; 相当 (xiāng dāng) — Quite / Fairly; 相貌 (xiàng mào) — Appearance or facial features..