Radical 方

4 strokes

lid 亠 (25b) + bow (51a) = direction 方

We have called the bottom part of this character “bow”, but you might like to think of it as a form of “wrap” (23a) instead, in which case you can modify the story accordingly.

As well as “direction”, this character also means “square (shape)”. It gives rise to another good phonetic series, represented by Fang the dog.

Some books advocate writing the final two strokes in the reverse order.

方法 (87) fāngfǎ method

[四方 (24) sìfāng square]

[西方 (100) xìfāng the West]

[对方 (154) duìfāng the other side/party]

[地方 (54) dìfāng place; aspect]

[立方 (177) lìfāng cubic (e.g. meters)]

[比方 (228) bǐfāng analogy]

(The vet stops to ask the way from a strange old man who is sitting outside his house) The old man has a lid on his head (instead of a hat) and silently bows to show which direction the vet must go. / The vet is off to meet the giant to attend to his dog, Fang. [Fang will appear in the next few stories: picture him as a huge soppy dog].