焚 (fén): to burn
焚 (fén) is a Chinese character meaning “to burn.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 林 (structural) and 火 (structural). It ranks #2413 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 焚 setting fire 火 to a forest 林. Its radical form 火 (fire) appears in many related characters such as 火 (huǒ, fire), 灯 (dēng, lamp, light), 烟 (yān, smoke).
Definitions
- to burn
Etymology & Origin
ideographicSetting fire 火 to a forest 林
Decomposition: ⿱林火 (layout: top-bottom)
Stroke Order
Practice writing 焚 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 焚烧 | fén shāo | to burn |
| 自焚 | zì fén | to set oneself on fire |
| 焚毁 | fén huǐ | to burn down |
| 焚化 | fén huà | to cremate |
| 心急如焚 | xīn jí rú fén | see 心急火燎[xin1 ji2 huo3 liao3] |
| 焚香 | fén xiāng | to burn incense |
| 焚风 | fén fēng | foehn wind (loanword) |
| 玩火自焚 | wán huǒ zì fén | to play with fire and get burnt (idiom) |
| 欲火焚身 | yù huǒ fén shēn | burning with desire |
| 兰艾同焚 | lán ài tóng fén | lit. to burn both fragrant orchids and stinking weeds (idiom) |
| 焚香敬神 | fén xiāng jìng shén | to burn incense in prayer to a God |
| 玉石俱焚 | yù shí jù fén | to burn both jade and common stone |
| 救焚益薪 | jiù fén yì xīn | add firewood to put out the flames (idiom) |
| 焚书坑儒 | fén shū kēng rú | to burn the Confucian classics and bury alive the Confucian scholars (acts supposedly committed by the first emperor ... |
| 焚膏继晷 | fén gāo jì guǐ | to burn the midnight oil (idiom) |
焚 appears in 20 compound words: 60 as the first character, 25 as the last, and 15 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.
Strongest Collocations
Characters that most frequently co-occur with 焚 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (9)
"burning of books and burying of scholars" (anti-intellectual event during Qin dynasty)
"burning of books and burying of scholars" (anti-intellectual event during Qin dynasty)
Showing 8 of 9 idioms containing 焚.
Example Sentences
焚书坑儒，历史悲剧。
Fén shū kēng rú, lìshǐ bēijù.
Burning books and burying scholars, a historical tragedy.
南投焚化炉抗争者咬女警 赖喊“鸡尾酒疗法” 她...
nán tóu fén huà lú kàng zhēng zhě yǎo nǚ jǐng lài hǎn jī wěi jiǔ liáo fǎ tā . . .
Protesters at Nantou Incinerator Bite Female Police Officer; Lai Calls for "Cocktail Therapy"; She...
许淑华家庙占国有地 反焚化炉自救会呛:盖焚化炉的好地方来了
xǔ 淑 huá jiā miào zhàn guó yǒu dì fǎn fén huà lú zì jiù huì qiàng : gài fén huà lú de hǎo dì fāng lái le
Hsu Shu-hua’s family temple occupies state-owned land; Anti-Incinerator Self-Help Association retorts: “Here’s a great spot to build an incinerator.”
尖沙咀婚紗店火警|災後一片狼藉婚紗焚毀 模特兒公仔倒臥窗邊
jiān shā jǔ hūn 紗 diàn huǒ jǐng 災 後 yī piàn láng 藉 hūn 紗 fén 毀 mó tè 兒 gōng zǐ dǎo 臥 chuāng 邊
Tsim Sha Tsui bridal shop fire|After the disaster, a messy wedding dress was burned, and the model doll was lying by the window
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
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Is 焚 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
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