The word 反省 (fǎnxǐng) is a compound formed by combining two meaningful characters: 反, which means "to turn over" or "reverse", and 省, which means "to examine" or "to reflect upon". Together, they create a metaphorical concept of "turning inward to examine", literally implying a reversal of one's gaze onto oneself. This structure follows a common pattern in Chinese where a verb (反) modifies another verb (省) to specify the manner of the action, resulting in the meaning "to introspect" or "to engage in self-reflection", capturing the idea of critically reviewing one's own thoughts and actions.