How to write 往 (wǎng, “past”)

往 (wǎng), an HSK 2 character, means “past”, “to go” and “to”. China and Japan order its strokes differently: Chinese stroke 6, going rightwards, is the 7th in Japanese schools; Chinese stroke 7, going downwards, is the 6th in Japanese schools. On its own it is an HSK 2 word; it also forms 往往 (“usually”), 前往 (“to leave for”) and 交往 (“to associate”). Japanese reads it ou, “journey”, as a JLPT N1 kanji.

Pinyin: wǎng
Strokes: 8
HSK: 2
Radical: 彳 (“step”)

Stroke by stroke

As a left-right character it splits into 彳 (“step”, the radical), strokes 1–3; 王 (“king or jade”), strokes 5–8, written the left part first.

top leftdownwards → down and left
top leftdown and left
leftdownwards
topdown and right
toprightwards
centerrightwards
centerdownwards
bottom leftrightwards

Names of the strokes

Two stroke orders

Japan and China order its strokes differently: 2 strokes sit in another place. Japanese 6 = Chinese 7; Japanese 7 = Chinese 6.

Japanese · KanjiVG · 8 strokes

Chinese · Make Me a Hanzi · 8 strokes

Trace it

Follow the numbers. Tracing help

Pinyin and meaning

Pinyin	Meanings	Traditional	In words
wǎng third tone	past; to go (in a direction); to; towards; (of a train) bound for	—	往往前往交往往返

HSK 2025 syllabus: level 2
2021 standard: level 2
HSK 2.0: in a level 4 word
Words with it: 69 in CC-CEDICT

Words with 往

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
往	wǎng	to go; to HSK 2
往往	wǎngwǎng	usually; in many cases HSK 4
前往	qiánwǎng	to leave for; to proceed towards HSK 5
交往	jiāowǎng	to associate (with); to have contact (with) HSK 5
往返	wǎngfǎn	to go back and forth; to go to and fro HSK 5
以往	yǐwǎng	in the past; formerly HSK 6
往后往後	wǎnghòu	from now on; in the future HSK 6
往年	wǎngnián	in former years; in previous years HSK 6
往来往來	wǎnglái	dealings; contacts HSK 6
来往來往	láiwǎng	to come and go; to have dealings with HSK 6

HSK words first (CC-CEDICT).

Practice sheet

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Keep going

HSK 2, in list order: