What is the meaning of 方 in 方向？ Below was a question about the role of 方 in 貽笑大方.  I'm sure our learnéd friends correctly advised. Just as a gut reaction, I would have said 大方 meant 'everywhere'.

I would like to know about 方 in 方向。

方 seems to mean square. Its etymology is a bit uncertain I think. I read it shows two ships tied together, or it shows a plough, or it shows that ancient punishment tool, a wooden square fixed around someone's neck.

In方向，meaning 'direction, orientation' does this 方 mean 'facing'?  In English we can say, "The two opponents squared off," basically meaning 'they directly faced each other.'

Is 方向 a contraction of a longer phrase? Maybe 地区，地方 + 走向？ 

圣诞节快乐！
「方」 originally meant side, surroundings > surrounding area. Before compass directions were invented, one of the ways to refer to a direction was through nearby landmarks or surrounding villages/states, and hence 「方」 also carries the meaning direction, now surviving in words like 「東方」, 「西方」, etc.

You can therefore treat 「方向」 as a word where both characters carry roughly the same meaning (as is common in Chinese).



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「方」 (Baxter-Sagart OC: /*paŋ/) is a derivative of 「亡」 (/*maŋ/, blade tip, now written as 「鋩」). Both 「方」 and 「亡」 come from an additional mark drawn on 「刀」 (picture of a knife/blade/weapon). The meaning side, surroundings is either a phonetic loan (rebus) or semantic extension; 
 compare 「劃」, which uses a knife 「刀」 to draw boundaries 「畫」.

「方」 extensively appears in Shang Dynasty oracle bones as part of state names surrounding the Shang state, and these state mentions serve as an invaluable record of Ancient Chinese interstate relations. Collectively, these states are called 「方國」.



References:


季旭昇《說文新證》
小學堂
國學大師


郭沫若《甲骨文合集》
中國社會科學院考古研究所《殷周金文集成》