来往
láiwǎng · HSK 6
to come and go; to have dealings with
🤝 come + go = the back-and-forth of keeping in contact
来 means come, 往 means go. Staying in contact is a steady two-way flow — you go to them, they come to you.
来 — pictograph of a wheat plant with grain heads
来 originally depicted a stalk of wheat with drooping grain heads, and meant 'wheat' in oracle bone script. It was later borrowed phonetically to write the unrelated verb 'to come,' which became its dominant meaning. The original 'wheat' sense was taken over by 麥 (now 麦).
往 — 彳 (step radical) + 主 (phonetic)
往 originally depicted a foot moving toward a place, with the 彳 radical signaling motion or walking. The right component 主 served mainly as a phonetic clue. Over time the meaning settled into 'to go (toward)' and, by extension, 'past' or 'previously'.