戍边 (shùbiān): to garrison the border

Meanings

1 to garrison the border
2 to guard the frontier
3 (historically) to be sent into exile to a border garrison

Characters

戍

shù

to garrison, to defend

边

biān

border, frontier

Examples

他志愿到西部戍边。

Tā zhìyuàn dào xībù shùbiān.

He volunteered to garrison the western frontier.

古代许多文人因获罪被发配戍边。

Gǔdài xǔduō wénrén yīn huòzuì bèi fāpèi shùbiān.

In ancient times many literati were exiled to border garrisons after being convicted of crimes.

Tips

history

戍 originally pictured a person carrying a halberd — a soldier on duty. From the Qin and Han onward, 戍边 carried two senses simultaneously: the proud one (loyal soldiers defending the realm — Tang frontier poetry by 王昌龄, 高适, 岑参 is built on this) and the punitive one (criminals and disgraced officials exiled to walk the walls — see Lin Zexu (林则徐) sent to Yili after the Opium War).

memory

戍 (shù, garrison) is easily confused with 戌 (xū, the 11th earthly branch / dog year) — note that 戍 has a dot inside, 戌 has a horizontal stroke. 戍边 takes the dot version.