How it changed
The story you’ll hear
Top: 相 (xiāng) = eyes (目) looking at a tree (木). Bottom: 心 (heart). Missing someone = your eyes scanning the horizon, searching through trees, while your heart aches below. The top half also serves as the phonetic — 相 and 想 sound nearly identical.
What the old dictionaries say
Memory trickLovely image, but it's a memory trick. In 想, 心 carries the meaning and 相 (xiāng) carries the sound. The eyes-on-a-tree reading only works if you split 相 apart, which the character doesn't do.
What it’s made of
meaning component: heart · mindSee it in a story
Related characters
Read characters like this in real stories
Every one has word-level pinyin, narrated audio and tap-to-define.
HSK 1After Class
Three classmates want different things after class: singing, a movie, or sleep.
3 chapters · audio + pinyin
HSK 2Too Spicy
A foreign guest struggles to fit in when her hosts’ meals are too spicy for her.
4 chapters · audio + pinyin
HSK 3Train Home for New Year
A city worker heads home for New Year, but a delay stalls her train and stirs memories.
6 chapters · audio + pinyin
HSK 4The Light Across the River
Reopening her grandmother’s shop, a young woman tracks a mysterious lamp across the river.
7 chapters · audio + pinyin
HSK 5The Borrowed Phone
After losing his bag, a stranded son can't claim his late father's wages and must seek help.
6 chapters · audio + pinyin
HSK 6The Smell of Oil at the Night Market
A food inspector traces a night-market illness to tainted oil—and pressure to hide it.
4 chapters · audio + pinyin