反省
はんせい · hansei · JLPT N3 · noun
contemplation
🪞 反省 = turn back (反) + examine (省): look back over yourself
省 also means to examine oneself, as in 省みる (kaerimiru). Hansei is also known from Toyota's work culture, where it means honestly admitting a mistake and planning how to fix it.
反 — hand 又 under cliff 厂
Originally a pictograph of a hand (又) turning something over against a cliff or slope (厂), depicting the action of flipping or reversing. From this came the core meaning 'to turn over,' which extended to 'opposite,' 'contrary,' and 'rebel against.' The character is purely semantic, with no phonetic component.
省 — 少 (shǎo) on top + 目 (eye) below
Originally a compound of 少 'small/few' over 目 'eye', suggesting narrowed eyes peering closely — hence the reading xǐng meaning 'to examine, inspect, reflect'. The sense of 'reduce/save' and the administrative meaning 'province' (as in 省份) developed later from the idea of cutting down or overseeing a region.