yáo
noun

Meanings

  1. 1 (classical) corvée; forced unpaid labour owed to the state

Examples

徭役
Yáoyì duō zé mín kǔ.
When corvée labour is heavy, the people suffer.

Tips

history
Not used alone today; it survives in the historical term 徭役 (corvée labour). The right side is the yáo phonetic also seen in , and ; the left radical relates to going and serving.
register
Historical; it belongs to writing about old tax-and-labour systems, not modern speech.

Components

radical
chì
step; to go
The 'step' radical on the left signals movement and service — going off to perform compelled labour for the state.
phonetic
yáo
vase; pitcher (phonetic)
The right side supplies the yáo sound. The same phonetic drives , , and ; it adds no meaning here.

Stroke Order

yáo