隶 (lì): to be subordinate to; to belong…

Meanings

1 to be subordinate to; to belong to
2 (historical) servant; bondsman
3 the clerical script (隶书)

Characters

隶

lì

subordinate; servant; clerical script

Examples

HSK 2

他喜欢练隶书。

Tā xǐhuan liàn lìshū.

He likes to practice clerical script (calligraphy).

HSK 6

这家公司隶属于教育部。

Zhèjiā gōngsī lìshǔ yú jiàoyùbù.

This company falls under the Ministry of Education.

Tips

usage

Modern uses cluster around two senses. (1) 隶属 and 隶 in administrative writing meaning 'belongs under / subordinate to'. (2) 隶书, the clerical script - the calligraphic style that emerged in the Han dynasty as a streamlined replacement for seal script. The 'servant' sense is mostly historical (奴隶 'slave').

history

From there extended to 'capture, subordinate, servant'. Indexes very few characters as a radical (隶 itself is the main resident); mostly preserved out of fidelity to Kangxi numbering.

Components

pictograph

隶 lì

to be subordinate; servant

Pictograph: a hand 又 grabbing the tail of an animal, hairs flying - capture in progress. The captured beast became metaphor for a captured person, hence 'servant, subordinate.' Itself a Kangxi radical, so 隶 stands as one unit. The clerical script 隶书 takes its name from this character.

Radical

Subordinate Kangxi #171

The 'subordinate/capture' radical. Originally a hand grabbing a tail - the metaphor for capture, then for one captured, then for a servant. Almost no productivity in modern characters; 隶 itself and the traditional 隸 are the main residents. Survives mostly as a free morpheme in 隶属 (subordinate to) and 隶书 (clerical script).