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反省 (fǎn xǐng) — to reflect on oneself; to examine one's own mistakes or conscience

Definition

反省 is a formal, self-directed 'to reflect on one's own mistakes/conscience' — narrower than 思考 (general deep thinking) and more personal than 反思 (which can target a situation, not just the self).

verb
to reflect on oneselfto examine one's own mistakes or conscience

Examples

  • 反省。
    Tā yīng gāi rèn zhēn fǎn xǐng zì jǐ de bù zú.
    He should seriously reflect on his own shortcomings.
  • ，反省。
    Jīng guò zhè cì shī bài, wǒ shēn shēn fǎn xǐng le hěn duō.
    After this failure, I deeply reflected a lot.
  • 反省。
    Zhè jiàn shì zhí dé wǒ men fǎn xǐng.
    This matter is worth our reflection.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

反fǎnturn inward
省shěngexamine

Both 反 and 省 point to turning inward and examining oneself, giving the sense of self-reflection.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
又又yòuhand
Sound part声符shēngfú
厂
厂chǎng反fǎn
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

反 uses 又 (hand) for meaning and 厂 for sound. Its original shape showed a hand turning its palm over, giving the sense of return or reverse.

Open 反 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

The upper part of 省 is a changed form of 生, which gave the sound, while the lower 目 is an eye; the picture showed looking closely or inspecting.

Open 省 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Thinking & Cognition

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