薰 (xūn): sweet-smelling grass, Coumarouna odorata, tonka beans

薰 (xūn) is a Chinese character meaning “sweet-smelling grass.” Outside the HSK 3.0 syllabus (CLEC 2022), it is composed of 艹 (semantic) and 熏 (phonetic). It ranks #3295 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, 薰 herb. Its radical form 艹 (grass) appears in many related characters such as 蒸 (zhēng, to steam), 草 (cǎo, grass), 花 (huā, flower).

Spoken pronunciation

Definitions

  1. sweet-smelling grass
  2. Coumarouna odorata
  3. tonka beans

Etymology & Origin

薰

pictophoneticherb

Decomposition: ⿱艹熏 (layout: top-bottom)

Stroke Order

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17

Practice writing 薰 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
小薰xiǎo xūnXiao Xun (1989-), Taiwan actress
香薰xiāng xūnaromatherapy
薰莸不同器xūn yóu bù tóng qìlit. fragrant herbs and foul herbs do not go into the same vessel (idiom)
薰衣草xūn yī cǎolavender (genus Lavandula)
4
Total compounds
50
As first character
50
As last character
0
As middle character

薰 appears in 4 compound words: 50 as the first character, 50 as the last, and 0 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.

Example Sentences

少数派Aug 2026

我发现国内香薰牌子不知道是工艺的问题,香薰味道都调得特别冲。

wǒ fā xiàn guó nèi xiāng xūn pái zǐ bù zhī dào shì gōng yì de wèn tí , xiāng xūn wèi dào dōu diào dé tè bié chōng .

I’ve noticed that with domestic aromatherapy brands—maybe it’s a matter of craftsmanship—the scents are all blended to be particularly overpowering.

少数派Aug 2026

真好奇在这一次的遗作中,东野圭吾给汤川和小薰,又写了怎样一个故事呢?

zhēn hǎo qí zài zhè yī cì de yí zuò zhōng , dōng yě guī wú gěi tāng chuān hé xiǎo xūn , yòu xiě le zěn yàng yī gè gù shì ne ?

I'm really curious to see what kind of story Keigo Higashino has written for Yukawa and Kaoru in this final work.

爱范儿Jul 2026

新机提供柔薰紫、岩影灰、云凝白三种标准配色,春野绿为三星官方线上商城专属配色。

xīn jī tí gōng róu xūn zǐ , yán yǐng huī , yún níng bái sān zhǒng biāo zhǔn pèi sè , chūn yě lǜ wéi sān xīng guān fāng xiàn shàng shāng chéng zhuān shǔ pèi sè .

The new phone is available in three standard colors: Soft Lavender, Rock Shadow Gray, and Cloud White. Spring Field Green is an exclusive color available only on the official Samsung online store.

中国新闻网·文化Jul 2026

小鸭子名叫素三彩鸭形香薰(以下简称“香薰鸭”),烧造于明代成化年间。

xiǎo yā zǐ míng jiào sù sān cǎi yā xíng xiāng xūn ( yǐ xià jiǎn chēng xiāng xūn yā ) , shāo zào yú míng dài chéng huà nián jiān .

The little duck is called the "Susu Sancai Duck-Shaped Incense Burner" (hereinafter referred to as the "Incense Burner Duck") and was fired during the Chenghua era of the Ming Dynasty.

中国新闻网·体育Jun 2026

即使没有远藤航、三笘薰等主力,“蓝武士”依然打出了如此统治力。

jí shǐ méi yǒu yuǎn téng háng , sān 笘 xūn děng zhǔ lì , lán wǔ shì yī rán dǎ chū le rú cǐ tǒng zhì lì .

Even without key players like Wataru Endo and Kaoru Mitoma, the “Blue Samurai” still put on such a dominant performance.

Character Family

Semantic Family — Characters sharing the 艹 (herb) component

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 薰 (xūn) mean in Chinese?
薰 (xūn) primarily means "sweet-smelling grass." It is not part of the HSK 3.0 syllabus. It ranks #3295 in character frequency.
How many strokes does 薰 have?
薰 is written with 17 strokes. The correct stroke order matters for recognition and handwriting speed — practice with the animated guide above to build proper technique.
What is the radical of 薰?
The radical associated with 薰 is 艹 (grass). This radical appears in many characters related to grass.
What are the components of 薰?
薰 is composed of: 艹 (semantic), 熏 (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿱艹熏 with a top-bottom layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 薰?
Common words with 薰 include: 小薰 (xiǎo xūn, "Xiao Xun (1989-), Taiwan actress"); 香薰 (xiāng xūn, "aromatherapy"); 薰莸不同器 (xūn yóu bù tóng qì, "lit. fragrant herbs and foul herbs do not go into the same vessel (idiom)"); 薰衣草 (xūn yī cǎo, "lavender (genus Lavandula)"). There are over 4 compound words containing this character.
Is 薰 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 薰 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing 薰 with real-time feedback

Trace stroke sequences, hear spoken pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.

Character data sourced from Unihan (Unicode Consortium), SUBTLEX-CH frequency corpus (Cai & Brysbaert, 2010), and Make Me a Hanzi (stroke data). Collocation strength measured via NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information). Verified by the HanziFeed linguistics team.

HSK classification follows the HSK 3.0 Standard (Center for Language Education and Cooperation, CLEC, 2022 revision). Idiom data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).

Data last verified: March 2026.