Chinese Radicals Series方fāng

The word 方 now means ‘square’, but and the pictogram looks like the shape of an ear.

The word 方used to refer to certain tribes who had a less-developed culture than the Han Chinese. , for example, 方言 (fāng yán, ’dialect’)，方 can also be used as in phrases that are related to location or direction， for example 方位 (fāng wèi, ‘location’), 地方 (dì fang, ‘place’) and 方向 (fāng xiàng, ‘direction’).

方 can also be used as a component in word-formation. Words with this component are sometimes related to ‘flag’, for example, 旗 (qí, ‘flag’), 旌 (jīng, ’banner’).

More often, 方 is often used to indicate the pronunciation of the word that contains it, for example, 放 (fàng, ‘release’), 防 (fáng, ’protect’) , 芳 (fāng, ’fragrant’) , 访 (fǎng,  ’visit’).

Idioms and phrases

方便 fāng biàn

Convenient

方寸 fāng cùn

Often used to refer to the heart

方法 fāng fǎ

Method

方家 fāng jiā

Master; expert

方面 fāng miàn

Aspect

方向盘 fāng xiàng pán

Steering wheel

方圆 fāng yuán

Literally ‘square and circle’, meaning ‘neighborhood’ or ‘area’

前方 qián fāng

In front; front