御

yù
adjective #13,199

Meanings

  1. 1 imperial
  2. 2 royal
  3. 3 to drive (a carriage)
  4. 4 to govern

Examples

HSK 7-9
这是一道御膳。
Zhè shì yī dào yùshàn.
This is an imperial dish.

Tips

usage
As a bound form, 御 appears in compounds: 御花园 (imperial garden), 防御 (defense), 驾御 (to control / drive). Rarely used alone in modern Chinese.

Components

radical
彳 chì
step (radical form)
Left step radical - half of 行, picturing a small footstep. Indexes 御 in the motion-and-control family with 往 to go, 徐 slowly, 待 to wait. Anchors the meaning: 御 originally describes a charioteer driving forward, then 'to govern, to handle,' and finally the imperial 'royal driving' that gave the emperor his domain.
phonetic
卸 xiè
to unload; remove harness
Right 卸 supplies the sound - xiè drifting to yù via initial alternation. Beautifully, 卸 itself depicts removing a horse from its harness after a journey. Combined with the step radical, 御 reads as 'driving and reining in' - the charioteer's full skill of starting and stopping, which extended to the emperor's mastery over his realm.

Stroke Order

御 yù