反

Stroke order (Mainland China)

反 (Kangxi radical 29, 又+2, 4 strokes, cangjie input 竹水 (HE), four-corner 7124₇ or 7224₇, composition ⿸𠂆又(G) or ⿸厂又(TJK))

• 仮, 𢓉, 坂, 岅, 㤆, 扳, 汳, 返, 阪, 昄, 板, 炍, 版, 𦙀, 瓪, 畈, 皈, 眅, 叛, 𢆕, 粄, 𥾵, 舨, 䛀, 𦤇, 販(贩), 𧿨, 䡊, 𠭤, 鈑(钣), 飯(饭), 魬, 㽹

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 165, character 19
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 3127
• Dae Jaweon: page 375, character 4
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 391, character 3
• Unihan data for U+53CD

Historical forms of the character 反
Shang	Western Zhou	Warring States	Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)
Oracle bone script	Bronze inscriptions	Chu slip and silk script	Small seal script

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *panʔ, *pʰan) : semantic 又 (“hand”) + phonetic 厂 (OC *hŋaːnʔ, *hŋaːns). The character originally depicted the action of turning the palm of the hand, and by extension, it came to mean "to return" or "to reverse."^[1]

STEDT compares it to Proto-Sino-Tibetan *par (“to trade; to buy; to sell”), from which Tibetan ཕར (phar, “interest (on money); exchange”) is derived.

Cognate with 販 (OC *pans, “to trade”), which is an exoactive of 反 (OC *panʔ, *pʰan, “to return, lit. to make someone return”) (Schuessler, 2007).

番 (OC *pʰan, “a turn; a time”) is the iterative of 反 (OC *panʔ, *pʰan).

反

1. to turn over; to reverse

   反敗為勝／反败为胜  ―  fǎnbàiwéishèng  ―  to turn defeat into victory

   隻船反咗。／只船反咗。 [Cantonese]  ―  zek³ syun⁴ faan² zo².   ―  The boat capsized.

2. to return; to counter

   反攻  ―  fǎngōng  ―  to counterattack

   反問／反问  ―  fǎnwèn  ―  to ask a question in reply

3. to rebel; to revolt

   造反  ―  zàofǎn  ―  to rebel

4. to oppose

   反法西斯  ―  fǎnfǎxīsī  ―  antifascist

   反貪腐／反贪腐  ―  fǎn tānfǔ  ―  anti-corruption

5. instead; on the contrary

   • 不我能慉，反以我為讎。 [Pre-Classical Chinese, trad.]
     不我能慉，反以我为雠。 [Pre-Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: The Classic of Poetry, c. 11^th – 7^th centuries BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

     Bù wǒ néng xù, fǎn yǐ wǒ wéi chóu.

     You cannot cherish me,
     And you even count me as an enemy.

   • 老爺當年何其明決！今日何反成個沒主意的人了？ [Written Vernacular Chinese, trad.]
     老爷当年何其明决！今日何反成个没主意的人了？ [Written Vernacular Chinese, simp.]

     From: Cao Xueqin, Dream of the Red Chamber, mid-18^th century CE

     Lǎoyé dāngnián héqí míngjué! Jīnrì hé fǎn chéng ge méi zhǔyì de rén le?

     (please add an English translation of this usage example)

6. reverse

   你把衣服穿反了。 [MSC, trad. and simp.]

   Nǐ bǎ yīfu chuān fǎn le.

   You have put your clothes on inside out.

7. to infer; to generalize

   舉一反三／举一反三  ―  jǔyīfǎnsān  ―  to infer other cases based on one instance

8. (literary) to reflect (on one's actions)
9. (obsolete) to revenge
10. (chemistry) trans-

    順反異構／顺反异构  ―  shùn-fǎn yìgòu  ―  cis-trans isomerism

    反-2-丁烯  ―  fǎn-èr-dīngxī  ―  trans-2-butene

    Antonym: 順／顺 (shùn)

11. (Southern Min) to leaf through; to scan
12. Alternative form of 返 (fǎn, “to return; to give back”)
13. Short for 反革命 (fǎngémìng, “counterrevolutionary”).

    肅反／肃反  ―  sùfǎn  ―  to eliminate counterrevolutionaries

14. (phonetics) Synonym of 切 (qiè)
15. a surname

反

1. to redress
2. to pour
3. (phonetics) Short for 反切 (fǎnqiè, “fanqie”).
4. to flip over

反

1. Used in 反反.
2. Alternative form of 販／贩 (fàn)

反

1. (music) Cantonese opera gongche notation for the note fa (4).

   Synonym: 凡 (fán) (Kunqu)

• “反”, in 漢語多功能字庫 (Multi-function Chinese Character Database)‎, 香港中文大學 (the Chinese University of Hong Kong), 2014–
• “Entry #790”, in 教育部臺灣台語常用詞辭典 (overall work in Mandarin and Hokkien), Ministry of Education, R.O.C., 2024.

(Third grade kyōiku kanji)

1. anti-

• Go-on: ほん (hon, Jōyō ^†)、へん (hen)
• Kan-on: はん (han, Jōyō)
• Kan’yō-on: たん (tan, Jōyō ^†)
• Kun: そらす (sorasu, 反らす, Jōyō)、そる (soru, 反る, Jōyō)、かえす (kaesu, 反す)、かえる (kaeru, 反る)、そむく (somuku, 反く)

反(はん) • (han-) 

1. anti-

• 親(しん) (shin)

From Middle Chinese 反 (MC pjonX).

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key):
• Phonetic hangul:
  • Though still prescribed in Standard Korean, most speakers in both Koreas no longer distinguish vowel length.

Korean Wikisource has texts containing the hanja:

反

Wikisource

反 (eumhun 되돌릴 반 (doedollil ban))

1. hanja form^? of 반 (“reverse; anti-”)

From Middle Chinese 反 (MC phjon).

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key):
• Phonetic hangul:

反 (eumhun 뒤집을 번 (dwijibeul beon))

1. (literary) hanja form^? of 번 (“to flip over”)

Related to Middle Chinese 販 (MC pjonH).

反 (eumhun 팔 판 (pal pan))

1. Alternative form of 販 (“hanja form^? of 판 (“to sell”)”)

• 국제퇴계학회 대구경북지부 (國際退溪學會 大邱慶北支部) (2007). Digital Hanja Dictionary, 전자사전／電子字典.

反: Hán Nôm readings: phản, phiên

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.