卒 (zú): soldier

Meanings

1 soldier
2 servant
3 to finish
4 to die
5 finally
6 at last
7 pawn (in Chinese chess)

Characters

卒

zú

soldier; pawn; to finish; to die; finally

Examples

HSK 7-9

象棋里，卒只能向前走，不能后退。

Xiàngqí lǐ, zú zhǐnéng xiàngqián zǒu, bùnéng hòutuì.

In Chinese chess, the pawn can only move forward and cannot retreat.

HSK 7-9

他卒于1985年，享年七十岁。

Tā zú yú 1985 nián, xiǎngnián qīshí suì.

He passed away in 1985 at the age of seventy.

Tips

usage

卒 has two readings: zú (soldier/pawn/to die/finally) and cù (variant of 猝 - suddenly). The chess term is always zú. The 'to die' meaning is formal and literary; 去世 is more common in modern speech.

Components

radical

十 shí

ten

Bottom 十 - the indexing radical. The two crossed strokes evoke the platoon of ten that ancient Chinese armies organised conscripts into. The full picture of 卒 is then 'capped men marching by tens' - disposable foot soldiers, also why 卒 came to mean 'end' or 'die' (the soldier's fate).

semantic

亠 tóu

lid; cover (top stroke set)

Top lid stroke and dot - historically the depiction of a collar or hat, here representing the standardized clothing of conscripted footsoldiers. Carries the uniform-cap image that gave 卒 its 'foot soldier' meaning.

semantic

从 cóng

to follow (two people)

Middle 从 - two figures one behind the other, picturing soldiers marching in file. In 卒 it reinforces the original sense of common infantry: rank-and-file men who follow orders together, unlike the officers (士) who lead them.