Example sentences
nǐ你mǎi买shén什me么dōng东xī西？
What are you buying?
dōng东xī西fàng放zhè这ér儿。
Put the stuff here.
The story behind the character
东
The traditional 東 is 日 (sun) caught in the middle of 木 (tree). The sun rising through the trees. That direction is east. Xu Shen wrote 东, 动也: "to stir," because when the sun rises, everything stirs.
西
西 was once a bird's nest. The earliest form is a nest, and it meant "to roost". A bird settling in for the night. Then it got borrowed for "west," and people had to coin a new 栖 for roosting. So 西 wasn't a direction; it was a bird's nest.