Example sentences

hòumiànyǒurén

There's someone behind.

yínxíngzàixuéxiàohòumiàn

The bank is behind the school.

The story behind the character

The traditional 後 is 彳 (walking) plus 幺 and 夂. It meant to fall behind, to lag. Xu Shen wrote 后, 迟也: "late."

面 is a face with an eye in the middle. Xu Shen wrote 面, 颜前也. The front of the head. Only later did it stretch to mean "side" or "noodle."

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