往 初

wǎng chūdictionary entry

(literary) former times / in olden days

Sources & editorial notes

Reference definitions: CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG, CC BY-SA 4.0. Source release 2026-10-27T01:55:52Z. Imported 2026-10-27. Definition wording and meaning order are retained. Recognized pronunciation references are displayed with tone marks; the original source record is available below.

Source record: cd-c2399b8f5a4eb1f3. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

往初往初 [wang3 chu1] /(literary) former times/in olden days/

Reference definitions and teaching material have separate provenance.

Reference information

The definitions above are from CC-CEDICT. Examples and usage notes are available on selected entries.

Character information

View the individual characters. Their meanings do not necessarily explain the meaning of the whole word.

往
wǎng
to go (in a direction) / to / towards / (of a train) bound for / past / previous
初
chū
(bound form) at first / initially / (bound form) first / early / (bound form) (in lunar calendar dates, before numerals 1–10) days 1 to 10 of a month, as in 初三[chū sān] "the third"

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.