漢字Kanji · in Human Body & People
省: government ministry, conserve
Also: omit
目 carries the meaning · 少 is drawn in
Bronze · Western Zhou Today
Bronze: Wikimedia Commons, public domain. Today’s form: KanjiVG, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Four readings, and the words that use each
セイsei · on'yomi · in compounds
- 反省するはんせいするreflect on, think over
- 帰省するきせいするgo home (for a holiday)
ショウshou · on'yomi
- 省庁しょうちょうministries & government offices
- 省エネしょうエネeconomical use of energy
- 大蔵省おおくらしょうMinistry of Finance
- 省略するしょうりゃくするomit, abbreviate
かえりみるkaerimiru · kun'yomi · on its own
- 省みるかえりみるreflect on
はぶくhabuku · kun'yomi
- 省くはぶくomit
Words: Kanji alive, CC BY 4.0.
Where it comes from
Origin · sourced
Phono-semantic compound (形聲)生 (sound) + 目 eye
Originally 眚. In oracle bone script, an phono-semantic compound (形聲): phonetic 生 + 目 (“eye”) – "to inspect".
Source: Wiktionary, 省 (rev. 93428992), CC BY-SA 4.0
Memory story · made up to help you remember
“See the world through this upright window! This is an eye standing tall.”
Connections
Also built on few (少)
Easy to confuse
The difference, side by sideIn ChineseSame character in simplified and traditional · shěng
Same form: 省 is written the same way in mainland China (simplified) and in Taiwan and Hong Kong (traditional).
- Simplified
- 省 mainland China, Singapore
- Traditional
- 省 Taiwan, Hong Kong
Pinyin shěng most common reading
Forms and pinyin: Unicode Unihan database (Unicode License v3). Pinyin lists the most common reading, not every reading.