～省
～しょう · ～shou · JLPT N2 · noun
ministry
🏛️ 省 = 少 (few) + 目 (eye): officials who look closely at state affairs
Attach ～省 to a field to name a government ministry: 外務省 is Foreign Affairs, 財務省 is Finance. The same kanji means to reflect on or omit (省みる, 省く). In Chinese, 省 means province.
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.