西方 meaning in English

xīfāng

the West; the Occident

HSK 2noun10 strokes

Meaning of 西方

Definitions from CC-CEDICT.

Xīfāng

the West
the Occident
Western countries

How to use 西方

西方 can mean the compass direction west, but it most often refers to Western countries and culture as a whole. It often appears before nouns like 文化 (wénhuà) or 国家 (guójiā). Example: 他很喜欢西方文化。(Tā hěn xǐhuan xīfāng wénhuà.) He really likes Western culture.

西 (xī) means west and 方 (fāng) means direction or side, so 西方 is literally "the west side." Picture the sun setting in the west, the direction people use to name Europe and America.

Common mistake: Learners often use 西方 for a specific location, like "the west side of the building." For that, Chinese uses 西边 (xībian), while 西方 sounds broader and more abstract. Also keep 方 (fāng) in the first tone, and do not confuse it with 东西 (dōngxi), which means "thing" when said with a neutral tone.

西方 in example sentences

Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.

西xī方fāng文wén化huà很hěn看kàn重zhòng个gè人rén。

Individuality is very important in the West.

不bù过guò，其qí它tā的de方fāng面miàn已yǐ经jīng超chāo过guò了le很hěn多duō西xī方fāng国guó家jiā的de程chéng度dù。

However, other aspects have already surpassed the standards of many Western countries.

中zhōng国guó之zhī治zhì与yǔ西xī方fāng之zhī乱luàn形xíng成chéng了le鲜xiān明míng的de对duì比bǐ。

There is a stark contrast between China's order and the chaos of the West.

日rì本běn有yǒu必bì要yào和hé西xī方fāng各gè国guó接jiē触chù。

Japan needed contact with the Western countries.

太tài阳yáng在zài东dōng方fāng升shēng起qǐ，西xī方fāng落là下xià。

The sun rises in the east and sets in the west.

Stroke order for each character

Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.

西 xī · west · 6 strokes

方 fāng · square · 4 strokes

Related words

Words that share a character with 西方.

东西	dōngxi	east and west
地方	dìfang	region; regional (away from the central administration)
西边	xībian	west; west side
方法	fāngfǎ	method; way; technique; procedure
方向	fāngxiàng	direction; orientation
方面	fāngmiàn	respect; aspect
方便	fāngbiàn	convenient; suitable; to facilitate; to make things easy
南方	nánfāng	south; southern direction; (in China) southern regions, often referring to areas south of
北方	běifāng	north; the northern part a country
东方	dōngfāng	east
西北	xīběi	northwest
西南	xīnán	southwest

Questions about 西方

What does 西方 mean?

西方 (xīfāng) means "the West; the Occident" and is used as a noun.

How do you write 西方?

西方 is made of 2 characters: 西 (6 strokes), 方 (4 strokes). That is 10 strokes in total.

Is 西方 an HSK word?

Yes. 西方 is on the HSK 2 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.

What is the opposite of 西方?

The opposite is 东方 (dōngfāng), meaning the East or the Orient. Together, 东方 and 西方 are often used to compare Eastern and Western cultures.

How do you say "Western food" or "Westerner" in Chinese?

Western food is usually 西餐 (xīcān), and a Westerner is 西方人 (xīfāngrén). In casual speech, people also say 老外 (lǎowài) for foreigners in general.