役 (yì): forced labor, corvée, obligatory task
役 (yì) is a Chinese character meaning “forced labor.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 彳 (structural) and 殳 (structural). It ranks #1239 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 役 a person walking over 彳 with food in hand 殳. Its radical form 彳 (step) appears in many related characters such as 很 (hěn, very), 得 (dé, to obtain), 往 (wǎng, to go (in a direction)).
Definitions
- forced labor
- corvée
- obligatory task
Etymology & Origin
ideographicA person walking over 彳 with food in hand 殳
Decomposition: ⿰彳殳 (layout: left-right)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 役 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 服役 | fú yì | to serve in the army |
| 战役 | zhàn yì | military campaign |
| 退役 | tuì yì | (of military personnel or athletes) to retire |
| 奴役 | nú yì | to enslave |
| 兵役 | bīng yì | military service |
| 服兵役 | fú bīng yì | to serve in the army |
| 现役 | xiàn yì | (military) active duty |
| 劳役 | láo yì | forced labor |
| 杂役 | zá yì | odd jobs |
| 仆役 | pú yì | servant |
| 差役 | chāi yì | forced labor of feudal tenant (corvée) |
| 苦役 | kǔ yì | forced labor |
| 一身两役 | yī shēn liǎng yì | one person taking on two tasks simultaneously |
| 役使动物 | yì shǐ dòng wù | draft animals |
| 毕其功于一役 | bì qí gōng yú yī yì | to accomplish the whole task at one stroke (idiom) |
役 appears in 37 compound words: 14 as the first character, 84 as the last, and 3 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.
Strongest Collocations
Characters that most frequently co-occur with 役 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (2)
Example Sentences
役字由7笔画组成，结构很巧妙。
yì zì yóu bǐ huà zǔ chéng , jié gòu hěn qiǎo miào .
The character "役" consists of seven strokes and has a very ingenious structure.
共军全面启用预备役人员证 专家:便于战时征召参战
gòng jūn quán miàn qǐ yòng yù bèi yì rén yuán zhèng zhuān jiā : biàn yú zhàn shí zhēng zhào cān zhàn
The Communist Army fully activates the reservist certificate Expert: It is convenient to be conscripted to participate in war during wartime
运动员新出路 专家:政府应鼓励企业进用退役运动员
yùn dòng yuán xīn chū lù zhuān jiā : zhèng fǔ yīng gǔ lì qǐ yè jìn yòng tuì yì yùn dòng yuán
A new way out for athletes Expert: The government should encourage enterprises to hire retired athletes
研究蚊子太有趣!博士替代役男退伍不想走
yán jiū wén zǐ tài yǒu qù ! bó shì tì dài yì nán tuì wǔ bù xiǎng zǒu
Studying mosquitoes is so much fun! The doctor resigned from the army and did not want to leave
...花滑“璃来龙”生涯金满贯 透露未来一起退役
. . . huā huá lí lái lóng shēng yá jīn mǎn guàn tòu lù wèi lái yī qǐ tuì yì
... Figure skating "Lilailong" career golden slam revealed that they will retire together in the future
...日冇人停赛 花果猴王第3次心律不正唔使退役
. . . rì 冇 rén tíng sài huā guǒ hóu wáng dì 3 cì xīn lǜ bù zhèng 唔 shǐ tuì yì
... No one suspended the day for the third time in a row and the Monkey King had to retire after suffering from an arrhythmia
这里是黑斯廷斯战役发生的地方。
Zhèlǐ shì Hēisītíngsī zhànyì fāshēng de dìfang.
This is the place where the battle of Hastings took place.
战争即和平，自由即奴役，无知即力量。
Zhànzhēng jí hépíng, zìyóu jí núyì, wúzhī jí lìliang.
War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength.
他让人们摆脱了奴役。
Tā ràng rénmen bǎituō le núyì.
He liberated the people from bondage.
奴役制是一种危害人类罪。
Núyì zhì shì yīzhǒng wēihài rénlèi zuì.
Slavery is a crime against humanity.
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
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Is 役 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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