How to Write 役 (yì) — Meaning “service; labor; servant”

Picture a servant (役) walking along a path (彳) while carrying a heavy weapon (殳) — that forced march represents hard labor or service. The path shows movement, and the weapon shows the duty is serious.

Stroke order: first write the left radical 彳 (3 strokes), then the right side 殳 in 4 strokes (left-falling, horizontal, horizontal hook, right-falling). A common mistake is making the right side too narrow or forgetting that the last stroke is a long right-falling stroke, not a dot.

役 (yì) has the right side 殳, while 彷 (páng) has 方 (square) and 彸 (zhōng) has 公 (public). Visually, 役's right side has a curved hook and a downward stroke, unlike the straight shapes of 方 or 公. In meaning, 役 is about service or labor, while 彷 means to hesitate and 彸 means to panic.

役 appears in formal words like 服役 (military service), 劳役 (forced labor), and 战役 (military campaign or battle). It often carries a sense of duty or obligation under authority, so you will see it in news, legal texts, or history discussions about work or war.

Common words containing 役 include: 服役 (fú yì) — to serve in the military; 劳役 (láo yì) — Labor; forced labor; 战役 (zhàn yì) — Campaign; battle..