Lesson 20 · Foundational Components

Directions: 东 / 西 / 南 / 北

The four compass points, alongside the position words from Lesson 3's 中 and Lesson 4's 上/下. These four are everywhere on maps, transit signage, and gate or exit labels.

Your four new components

东

dōng

east

5 strokes

西

xī

west

6 strokes

南

nán

south

9 strokes

北

běi

north

5 strokes

Quick recall — click each card to flip it:

东

dōng — east

西

xī — west

南

nán — south

北

běi — north

东/東 is not "the sun rising behind a tree" — that's a folk etymology. If you already know Lesson 1's 日 (sun) and 木 (tree), you've probably noticed traditional 東 looks exactly like 日 tucked inside 木 — and the Shuowen Jiezi dictionary really does explain it that way, as the sun behind the mythical Fu Sang tree at dawn. But Wiktionary is direct about it: "the original form is rather different, hence any interpretation tied to a tree is most likely a folk etymology." The real oldest forms show a sack tied shut at both ends, unrelated to sun or tree; a version of that same old glyph with a person added went on to become an entirely different character, 重 (zhòng, "heavy"). Kangxi radical 75. (Wiktionary: 東)

西 — a bird returning to its nest at sunset. Wiktionary reads the oldest oracle-bone form as an open-topped nest shape, related in sense to "to perch, to roost" — the image of a bird settling in at day's end, and by extension the direction the sun sets. Kangxi radical 146. (Wiktionary: 西)

南 — origin contested. The oldest bronze-inscription forms show a suspended, lidded vessel of some kind — plausibly a musical instrument or a container for preserved meat — with no obvious link to "south" at all. Two competing theories explain the jump: one traces 南 to a Sino-Tibetan root for "sky, sun" (the south being the sunny-facing direction); another traces it instead to a root for "ribs, belly." Neither has won out. Kangxi radical 24. (Wiktionary: 南)

北 — two people, back to back. An ideogrammic compound: two mirrored figures facing away from each other. Wiktionary states the character originally meant "back" — the body part — and that the modern word for "back," 背 (bèi, already met in Lesson 8's note on 月/肉 lookalikes), preserves that old sense directly. The drift to "north" runs through "to turn one's back on, to retreat," and then through orientation: a traditional building or a seated person faces south, so north is whatever is behind them. Kangxi radical 21. (Wiktionary: 北)

Stroke order

Examples using these components

东 and 西 side by side form one of the most common words in the language — and its meaning has nothing to do with geography:

东西dōngxithing, stuff, object

东+西=东西

(Note the tone: 西's own tone flattens to neutral in this word.) Wiktionary records two explanations for this jump. A popular story claims merchants once shopped at separate East and West markets, and "east-west" slid into meaning "goods." Wiktionary treats that as folk etymology. The scholarly account (Yang, 2020) instead traces a semantic path: "east-west" broadened metaphorically to "everywhere," then to "everything," and only later narrowed down to individual "things" — a shift dated to roughly the 7th–9th centuries. (Wiktionary: 東西)

南 and 北 also combine, but more literally:

南北nánběinorth and south

南+北=南北

Plainly literal — used for describing a north-south layout or axis.

All four combine with Lesson 13's 门 (door, gate) the same practical way — the standard pattern for naming a gate, entrance, or exit by compass direction on a park, campus, or old city wall:

东门dōngménEast Gate

东+门=东门

西门 (xīmén), 南门 (nánmén), and 北门 (běimén) follow the identical pattern for West, South, and North Gate.

Check your recall

The "sun behind a tree" story for traditional 東 is, according to Wiktionary, most likely a:

Wiktionary reads the oldest form of 西 as a picture of a:

北's ideogrammic origin shows two people standing:

Wiktionary's two competing theories trace 南's origin to a root meaning either "sky, sun" or:

东西 (dōngxi) as an everyday word means:

Go further

Etymology sources for every character above are linked inline. For the rigorous version of any of them, see the Outlier Dictionary of Chinese Characters.

Out in the world: compass directions label gates and exits at parks, temples, and campuses (东门, 南门…), show up on transit maps and building directories, and appear in everyday weather talk — 北风 (běifēng, "north wind") and 南风 (nánfēng, "south wind") are common in forecasts. And once you notice 东西 in a sentence, check whether it means "east and west" or just "stuff" — context almost always makes it obvious, but it's worth catching yourself doing the disambiguation.

Your four new components

Stroke order

东 — 5 strokes

西 — 6 strokes

南 — 9 strokes

北 — 5 strokes

Examples using these components

Check your recall

Go further