Fǎnqiè (反切; Cantonese IPA: fɑn2ts^hɪt3) spellings are used to indicate the pronunciation of Chinese characters. The character, of which pronunciation is needed is basically a syllable. The syllable includes the onset, rime and tone.

Basically, the fǎnqiè method is to use two characters to represent the pronunciation of the syllable. The onset is represented by another character with the same onset. The rime and tone are combined and represented with a character which has a matching rime and tone. Thus

(Onset) + (Rime & tone) = (Pronunciation of Character)

For example, the character 東 is represented by 德紅切. The third character 切 indicates that this is a fǎnqiè spelling, while the first two characters indicate the onset and rime respectively. Thus the pronunciation of 東 is given as the onset of 德 dé (d) with the rime of 紅 hóng (óng; ping tone in Middle Chinese), yielding dong in ping tone.

Owing to the development of the Chinese language over the last millennium and a half, the fǎnqiè spellings are not always accurate for northern languages of Modern Chinese; for example, the modern pronunciation of 東 is dōng rather than dóng. However, it is still rather accurate for southern Chinese languages such as Cantonese and Hakka, which have preserved many elements of Ancient and Middle Chinese, with less influence from Jurchens, Khitans, Manchus and Mongols than northen languages.