xiāng
hometown
Simplified form of 鄉. Pictograph of two people facing each other, kneeling down to share a meal. Based on the original meaning "feast" or "offer food", now written as 饗. The meaning later shifted to "hometown". The right two components were removed for simplification.
Components
Evolution

Oracle script
(~1250-1000 BC)
Bronze script
Late Shang dynasty (~1100 BC)
Seal script
Shuowen (~100 AD)
Clerical script
Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)Traditional script
ModernSimplified script
ModernDefinitions
Most common words with 乡
Freq. | Word | Meaning |
---|---|---|
rustic | ||
hometown | ||
native place | ||
countryside | ||
city and countryside |