驿 (yì): post horse, relay station

驿 (yì) is a Chinese character meaning “post horse.” Outside the HSK 3.0 syllabus (CLEC 2022), it is composed of 马 (semantic). It ranks #4169 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 驿 horse. Its radical form 马 (horse) appears in many related characters such as 马 (mǎ, horse), 骂 (mà, to scold), 驾 (jià, to drive).

Spoken pronunciation
Radical: 马 horse8 strokesFrequency #4169马 semantic

Definitions

  1. post horse
  2. relay station

Etymology & Origin

驿

pictophonetichorse

Components:马semantic

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

Practice writing 驿 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
驿站nounyì zhànrelay station for post horses (old)
驿城区yì chéng qūYicheng, a district of Zhumadian City 駐馬店市|驻马店市, Henan
龙泉驿区lóng quán yì qūLongquanyi, a district of Chengdu City 成都市, Sichuan
电驿diàn yìrelay (electronics)
驿马yì mǎpost horse
驿传yì chuánrelay post-horse mail service (in former times)
驿城yì chéngsee 驛城區|驿城区
龙泉驿proper-nounlóng quán yìsee 龍泉驛區|龙泉驿区
8
Total compounds
63
As first character
25
As last character
13
As middle character

驿 appears in 8 compound words: 63 as the first character, 25 as the last, and 13 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.

Example Sentences

中国新闻网·文化Oct 2026

车内承载地域文化,车外配套旅游驿站、交通换乘等服务。

chē nèi chéng zài dì yù wén huà , chē wài pèi tào lǚ yóu yì zhàn , jiāo tōng huàn chéng děng fú wù .

The vehicles showcase local culture, while the surrounding area offers services such as tourist rest stops and public transportation transfer points.

中国新闻网·文化Sep 2026

从水上听戏、古驿迎宾,到火龙腾空、非遗赶集,传统文化正在解锁更多新玩法。

cóng shuǐ shàng tīng xì , gǔ yì yíng bīn , dào huǒ lóng téng kōng , fēi yí gǎn jí , chuán tǒng wén huà zhèng zài jiě suǒ gèng duō xīn wán fǎ .

From watching opera on the water and welcoming guests at historic post stations to fire dragons soaring through the air and intangible cultural heritage fairs, traditional culture is opening up new ways to experience it.

中国新闻网·文化Sep 2026

园区位于沙苑,作为关中平原唯一的沙丘地貌,此地是唐代重要驿站。

yuán qū wèi yú shā 苑 , zuò wéi guān zhōng píng yuán wéi yī de shā qiū dì mào , cǐ dì shì táng dài chóng yào yì zhàn .

Located in Shayuan, the park is the only area of sand dune terrain on the Guanzhong Plain and served as an important post station during the Tang Dynasty.

中国新闻网·文化Sep 2026

它是家,也是驿站;是出发,也是归来。

tā shì jiā , yě shì yì zhàn ; shì chū fā , yě shì guī lái .

It is a home and a resting place; it is a departure and a return.

中国新闻网·文化Aug 2026

驿站还设置银发商店,供银发人群体验上海老博会创新产品。

yì zhàn hái shè zhì yín fā shāng diàn , gōng yín fā rén qún tǐ yàn shàng hǎi lǎo bó huì chuàng xīn chǎn pǐn .

The station also features a "Silver Shop," where seniors can experience innovative products from the Shanghai Senior Expo.

Character Family

Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 马 (horse) component

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 驿 (yì) mean in Chinese?
驿 (yì) primarily means "post horse." It is not part of the HSK 3.0 syllabus. It ranks #4169 in character frequency.
How many strokes does 驿 have?
驿 is written with 8 strokes. The correct stroke order matters for recognition and handwriting speed — practice with the animated guide above to build proper technique.
What is the radical of 驿?
The radical associated with 驿 is 马 (horse). This radical appears in many characters related to horse.
What are the components of 驿?
驿 is composed of: 马 (semantic). Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 驿?
Common words with 驿 include: 驿站 (yì zhàn, "relay station for post horses (old)"); 驿城区 (yì chéng qū, "Yicheng, a district of Zhumadian City 駐馬店市|驻马店市, Henan"); 龙泉驿区 (lóng quán yì qū, "Longquanyi, a district of Chengdu City 成都市, Sichuan"); 电驿 (diàn yì, "relay (electronics)"); 驿马 (yì mǎ, "post horse"). There are over 8 compound words containing this character.
Is 驿 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
No. The simplified form is 驿 and the traditional form is 驛.

Practice writing 驿 with real-time feedback

Trace stroke sequences, hear spoken pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.

Character data sourced from Unihan (Unicode Consortium), SUBTLEX-CH frequency corpus (Cai & Brysbaert, 2010), and Make Me a Hanzi (stroke data). Collocation strength measured via NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information). Verified by the HanziFeed linguistics team.

HSK classification follows the HSK 3.0 Standard (Center for Language Education and Cooperation, CLEC, 2022 revision). Idiom data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).

Data last verified: March 2026.