自省 (zì xǐng) — (verb) to introspect, to examine oneself; (noun) self-examination, introspection

Definition

Reflecting honestly on your own thoughts, motives, and behavior — closer to deep moral self-scrutiny than casual self-checking. Often used in formal or philosophical writing about personal growth.

verb
to introspectto examine oneself
noun
self-examinationintrospection

Examples

  • 自省。
    Xué huì zì xǐng shì gè rén chéng zhǎng de zhòng yào bù fen.
    Learning to introspect is an important part of personal growth.
  • 自省，。
    Tā měi tiān huā shí fēn zhōng zì xǐng, zǒng jié yì tiān de dé shī.
    He spends ten minutes each day introspecting, summing up the day's gains and losses.
  • ，自省。
    Zài zhè ge gǎng wèi shàng, nǐ bì xū yǒu shēn kè de zì xǐng néng lì.
    In this position, you must have a strong capacity for introspection.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
主谓zhǔwèiSubject + predicate

A small sentence frozen into a word: something, and what it does or is.

自zìself
省shěngexamine/reflect

自 points to oneself, and 省 means to examine or reflect, so the word conveys examining oneself.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

假借jiǎjièLater borrowed for its sound alone — the picture has nothing to do with today’s meaning.

自 originally drew a nose. It was borrowed purely for its sound to write 自, so the picture and the meaning are unrelated.

Open 自 →

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 →

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