省 (shěng) is a Chinese character meaning “to economize, to save (money, time, effort)”. It is written from 少 (few; little) and 目 (eye), one above the other, and takes 9 strokes. It has a second reading, xǐng, which turns up in 反省 — here the two readings are two separate things to learn, not one card with two answers.
Build the character for “to save; to cut down”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
少 + 目
Top–bottom structure
Structure from: modern-glyph IDS ⿱少目, verified against hanzi-writer-data stroke groups (少 4 + 目 5 = 9)
Memory aid
Fewer (少) sitting on top of an eye (目): the less your eye has to watch over, the less you spend — 省 is cutting things down.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
9 strokes
In real words
- 节省jié shěngto economize; to save (money, time, effort)省 = shěng
- 省钱shěng qiánto save money省 = shěng
- 省略shěng lüèto omit; to leave out省 = shěng
Go deeper
All readings
to save; province
to economize, to save (money, time, effort); to omit; a province
①节约，少花费。②简略，去掉。③中国的一级行政区划。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 节省jié shěngto economize; to save (money, time, effort)省 = shěng
- 省钱shěng qiánto save money省 = shěng
- 省略shěng lüèto omit; to leave out省 = shěng
to examine oneself
to examine oneself; to become conscious of one's own conduct
检查自己的思想和行为。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 反省fǎn xǐngto reflect on one's own conduct; to examine oneself省 = xǐngspoken asfán xǐng
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 省 mean?
省 (shěng) means to economize, to save (money, time, effort); to omit; a province.
How do you pronounce 省?
Its main reading is shěng. It also has a second reading, xǐng, which only shows up in certain words such as 反省 — so the word tells you the reading, not the character on its own.
Why is 省 sometimes pronounced xǐng?
Because it is a multi-reading character: each reading carries a different sense, and the word decides which one applies. In 反省 it is read xǐng.
What parts is 省 made of?
少 (few; little) and 目 (eye), one above the other. The recorded source is: modern-glyph IDS ⿱少目, verified against hanzi-writer-data stroke groups (少 4 + 目 5 = 9). Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 省 have?
9. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 省?
目. The radical is how the character is filed in a dictionary — it is not the whole story of how the character is built.
What words use 省?
Common ones are 节省 and 省钱. The reading of 省 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.