驻 (zhù): to station; to be posted (milit…

Meanings

1 to station; to be posted (military/diplomatic)
2 to halt; to stay

Characters

驻

zhù

to halt; to be stationed

Examples

HSK 3

他是驻外记者。

Tā shì zhùwài jìzhě.

He is a foreign correspondent.

HSK 6

部队驻扎在这个城市。

Bùduì zhùzhā zài zhège chéngshì.

The troops are stationed in this city.

HSK 7-9

联合国驻华代表来访。

Liánhéguó zhùhuá dàibiǎo láifǎng.

The UN representative in China came to visit.

Tips

usage

驻 is used for official/military stationing: 驻扎 (to station troops), 驻华 (stationed in China), 驻外 (stationed abroad). The pattern 驻 + country is used for embassies and diplomatic posts.

Components

radical

马 mǎ

horse

马 on the left is the horse radical, simplified from a flowing four-leg pictograph. It contributes the sense of mounted forces; 驻 originally pictured cavalry halting and pitching camp, hence the modern senses of stationing and being garrisoned.

phonetic

主 zhǔ

host; master

主 supplies the reading, shifting tone from zhǔ to zhù. The same phonetic surfaces in 住 (live), 注 (pour into), and 柱 (pillar), all touching on the idea of fixing something in place. Compare 住 - a person fixed in a dwelling, and 驻 - horses fixed at a post.