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东 dōng
Explanation: east
东方 the east  东欧 Eastern Europe
在甲骨文里像一件用绳绑着的行李(),有物件的意思,后来才渐渐被用来指示方向。所以,中国人用“东西”这个词来形容物件,正是这个字的本意。

The character 东in the oracle bones looks like a big bag with its both ends tied ( ), so the original meaning should be东西 (东西dōng xi : thing) .As the character developed and people could no longer discern the original form of “bag”, the character also came to mean “the east”.