Taxonomy of meanings for 役:　　

  • 役 yì (OC: ɢʷleɡ MC: jʷiɛk) 營隻切 入 廣韻：【古從人今從彳説文曰戍邊也營隻切十二 】
    • SERVANT
        • intellectual>STUDENT
            • related action, figurative>>>FOLLOW
              • nsubject=humanfollower; disciple
              • vtoNenlist as a follower (understood: of Confucius)
          • military>SOLDIER
            • nconscript soldier
            • viactserve as conscript labour force; serve as conscript soldiers
            • related activity>BATTLE
              • nabactmilitary campaign (including battles and marches)
              • vtoNjoin the battle against (as conscript etc)
              • viactmeet up for military service in a campaign
          • related action>SERVE
            • vt+prep+Nserve N
            • vtoNserve as a dependent or slave
            • agent>WORKER
              • nagentcorvee labourer, but originally "conscript soldier"
              • specific>SLAVE
                • npost-NN's slave
                • nabactcorvee labour
                • nt"slave": subservient element, something in a subservient position vis-a-vis something else
                • vtoNcausativecause to be enslaved> enslave
                • vtoNattitudinaltreat as mere slaves
                • vtoNcausativepassive: be/get enslaved
                • vtoNreflexive.身cause to be a slave, enslave (oneself) 役身
                • vt+prep+Npassivebe enslaved by NLZ
                • related action>LABOUR
                  • nabactcorvee labour; very hard work
                  • vi.redactslave away
                  • viactengage in public work; put in work hard work
                • as insult>VILLAIN
                  • nthe scoundrel
          • abstract>DUTY
            • voluntary>HELP
              • genralised>ACT
              • causative: cause to serve>SEND

              Additional information about 役

              說文解字:

                Criteria
              • FOLLOW

                1. The dominant current word for moving along behind someone or something else, both in concrete and in abstract senses, is cóng 從 (ant. bèi 背 "be in opposition against").

                2. Suí 隨 is to move along literally behind someone, by a deliberate act of volition.

                3. Zūn 遵 refers primarily to the kind of deliberate following of a path, behaviour that is motivated by respect for what one follows, but sometimes the word is also used in a more generalised way referring to a person following a certain physical guideline without any suggestion of respect for this guideline, as in MENG 遵海而南 "head south along the shore of the sea".

                4. Xún 循 is to follow certain guidelines or a certain prescribed path, as a matter of prudential strategy, and typically in a rather mechanical or habitual manner.

                5. Yǎn 沿 is to follow a physical guideline (like a river bank) in a mechanical way.

                6. Hòu 後 and zhǒng 踵 is to follow literally in the footsteps of someone.

                7. Tīng 聽 refers to the abstract notion of following advice given to one as a superior. See OBEY

                8. Yì 役 and xùn 徇 are fairly rare when used as words referring to the deliberate act of becoming someone's follower or employee.

                9. Xí 襲 refers to a mechanical course of action in conformity with some pattern.

                10. Zé 則 refers to the following of a certain abstract principle or model person to which due attention is paid. See CONFORM

              • ARTISAN

                1. The current general word for a worker or craftsman is jiàng 匠 (ant. shì 士 "freeman; scholar").

                2. Yōng 庸 (ant. jūn zǐ 君子 "gentleman") refers to any menial worker.

                3. Yì 役 (ant. zhǔ 主 "person in charge") refers specifically to a corvee labourer. See CORVEE LABOURER

                4. Táo 陶 "potter", páo 庖 "cook", yě 冶 "founder" are current specific terms.

                5. Zhū 侏 and rú 儒 are specific terms referring to the clowns or court entertainers. See CLOWN

              • BATTLE

                [ACTION/PROCESS]

                [BASIC/MARGINAL]

                [[COMMON/RARE]]

                [GENERAL/SPECIFIC]

                [INOFFICIAL/OFFICIAL]

                [LASTING/TEMPORARY]

                1. The general term is zhàn 戰 (ant. hé 和 "ceasing of hostilities, ceasefire") and refers to any military engagement at a given time.

                [GENERAL], [TEMPORARY]

                2. An extended official and centrally organised campaign lasting some time and viewed as a task for the military is yì 役.

                [PROCESS], [LASTING]

                3. Zhēng 征 refers to an official military campaign as conducted by a state. See ATTACK

                [ACTION], [LASTING], [OFFICIAL]

                4. Chén 陳 refers to the the forming of a battle array. See BATTLE ARRAY

                [SPECIFIC]

                5. Jūn 軍 can come to refer generally to military action or military campaigns of any kind.

                [ACTION], [MARGINAL]; [[RARE]]

              • WORKER

                1. The general term for a corvee labourer or a conscript soldier of any kind is yì 役.

                2. Yáo 徭 refers unambiguously to a corvee labourer and focusses prototypically on the fact that he is sent to a distant place.

                3. Shù 戍 refers specifically to a conscript soldier sent out to guard the borders.

              • VILLAIN

                1. The most general and comprehensive term for a villain is zéi 賊, and the basic association is with the damage he does. There is no special association with murder or thievery.

                2. Kòu 寇 refers to thugs and robbers, particularly enemies of the state.

                3. Dào 盜 refers to thieves or the more ordinary kind, and burglars, and the basic association is with the property he romoves. Note that Dào Zhí 盜跖 is something of a euphemism, since this gentleman was an arch-villain of great dimension.

                4. Yì 役 is occasionally used for a scoundrel.

              • SLAVE

                1. The standard general word for a dependent low-status servant or slave is nú 奴, and this word became quite currrent in Han times.

                2. Yì 役 tends to focus on the hard labour involved.

                3. Lǔ 虜 focusses prototypically on the prisoner-origins of a slave.

                4. Lì 隸 refers to slaves in an administrative bureaucratic way, and prototypically these menial workers are in public employment, being thus of higher status than mere shepherds or stable-boys in the countryside.

                5. Zānghuò 臧獲 is the standard exampe of the name of a slave.

                Slavery and servant-hood not always easy to distinguish, and this is for very interesting social reasons. A scheme for the place of menials in the status system is systematised in a crucial ZUO Zhao 7 passage:

                故王臣公，公臣大夫，大夫臣士，士臣皁，皁臣輿，輿臣隸，隸臣僚，僚臣僕，僕臣臺。

                馬有圉，牛有牧，

              • SOLDIER

                1. There is no current general word for a soldier of any rank, and the collective term for soldiers is jūn 軍 "army". See ARMY

                2. Zú 卒 and the archaic tú 徒 refer to an ordinary infantry soldier, and these footsoldiers never ride chariots.

                3. Jiǎ 甲 refers to armoured soldiers riding in carriages.

                4. Jì 騎 refers to cavalry (Han dynasty).

                5. Nǔ 弩 refers to crossbowmen.

                6. Yì 役 refers to a conscript soldier.

                7. Xiǎo rén 小人 (jūn zǐ 君子 "soldier of a higher grade") refers generically to the lower grades in the army.

                8. Shì 士 refers to officers riding chariots in battle.

                NB: Bīng 兵 "soldier" may turn out to be post-Han. I have not yet found a clear example where the word refers to a soldier.