您 from HSK Level 1 Vocabulary List

The Chinese character 您 (nín) is a second-person pronoun used as a respectful way to address someone. It is composed of two parts: the radical 亻(rén), which indicates that the character is related to a person, and the phonetic component 囙 (yǎn), which is a simplified form of the character 顏 (yán), meaning "face". The combination of these two components suggests the idea of "facing someone with respect".The character 您 first appeared in the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220 AD) and was originally used as a verb meaning "to face" or "to meet". Over time, it gradually developed into a pronoun used to address people in a respectful manner. In modern Chinese, 您 is commonly used to address elders, superiors, teachers, customers, and other people who are worthy of respect. It is also used in formal writing and in situations where politeness is required.The use of 您 as a respectful pronoun is not limited to the Chinese language. In Japanese, the character 貴方 (あなた, anata) is used in a similar way, and in Korean, the character 당신 (당신, dangsin) serves the same purpose. These characters all share the same root meaning of "facing someone with respect", reflecting the cultural importance of showing respect and politeness in East Asian societies.