(yān): Yan, a vassal state of Zhou in present-day Hebei and Liaoning, north Hebei, the four Yan kingdoms of the Sixteen Kingdoms, namely: Former Yan 前燕 (337–370), Later Yan 後燕|后燕 (384–409), Southern Yan 南燕 (398–410), Northern Yan 北燕 (409–436)

(yān) is a Chinese character meaning “yan, a vassal state of zhou in present-day hebei and liaoning.” Classified as HSK Level 7-9 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), with radical (fire). It ranks #1690 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).

Etymologically derived, a swallow, with its head 廿, wings 北, and tail 灬. Its radical form (fire) appears in many related characters such as (huǒ, fire), (dēng, lamp, light), (yān, smoke).

Native pronunciation
HSK 7-9Radical: fire16 strokesFrequency #1690

Definitions

  1. Yan, a vassal state of Zhou in present-day Hebei and Liaoning
  2. north Hebei
  3. the four Yan kingdoms of the Sixteen Kingdoms, namely: Former Yan 前燕 (337–370), Later Yan 後燕|后燕 (384–409), Southern Yan 南燕 (398–410), Northern Yan 北燕 (409–436)

Etymology & Origin

ideographicA swallow, with its head 廿, wings 北, and tail 灬

Decomposition: ⿱⿱廿⿻口北灬 (layout: top-bottom)

Stroke Order

1
2
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16

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

Words & Compounds

Common Compounds

WordPinyinMeaning
yàn wěi fúswallow-tailed coat
yàn màioats
yàn ziswallow
yàn wōedible bird's nest
yǔ yànswift
jīn sī yànAerodramus, genus of birds that use echolocation, a subset of the Collocaliini tribe (swiflets), two of whose species...
yīng gē yàn wǔthe warbler sings and the swallow dances
yàn què(bird species of China) brambling (Fringilla montifringilla)
shēn qīng rú yànas lithe as a swallow (of athlete or beautiful girl)
yān jīng dà xuéYanjing or Yenching University, Christian university in Beijing founded in 1919
láo yàn fēn fēithe shrike and the swallow fly in different directions (idiom)
bái yǎn hé yàn(bird species of China) white-eyed river martin (Pseudochelidon sirintarae)
xīn hūn yàn ěr(idiom) to experience the joy of being newly married
鸿lái hóng qù yànlit. the goose comes, the swallow goes (idiom)
yān zhào dū shì bàoYanzhao Metropolis Daily
100
Total compounds
24
As first character
44
As last character
32
As middle character

appears in 100 compound words: 24 as the first character, 44 as the last, and 32 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 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.

cháo
0.4954,854 co-occurrences
姿
0.4734,098 co-occurrences
0.4651,488 co-occurrences
píng
0.4381,782 co-occurrences
zhào
0.4093,672 co-occurrences
wáng
0.40022,182 co-occurrences
xiá
0.3971,578 co-occurrences
wěi
0.3926,486 co-occurrences
jīng
0.38911,916 co-occurrences
dié
0.3711,512 co-occurrences

Idioms & Chengyu (9)

láoyànfēnfēiHSK 7+

the shrike (伯勞/伯劳) and the swallow (燕) part and fly in different directions; two lovers part

phrase
shēnqīngrúyànHSK 7+

to be nimble; to be lithe; to be agile

phrase
xīnhūnyàn'ěrHSK 7+

to bask in newlywed bliss

phrase
hēi zhěn yàn ōuHSK 7+

(bird species of China) black-naped tern (Sterna sumatrana)

phrase
yīnggēyànwǔHSK 7+

lively scenery of spring; scene of prosperity

phrase
yǐngshūyānshuōHSK 7+

to misinterpret the original meaning; to distort the meaning in order to fit one's ideas; to pile up errors

phrase

Showing 6 of 9 idioms containing .

Example Sentences

AI-Generated

消防员迅速赶到,扑灭了熊熊大

xiāo fáng yuán xùn sù gǎn dào , pū miè le xióng xióng dà yān .

Firefighters arrived quickly and extinguished the raging blaze.

UdnnewsindexFeb 2026

卢秀访美淡化“疑美论”?蓝喊不必放大解读 绿...

卢 xiù yān fǎng měi dàn huà yí měi lùn ? lán hǎn bù bì fàng dà jiě dòu lǜ . . .

Lu Xiuyan's visit to the United States downplays the "suspicion of the United States"? Blue shouting does not have to be amplified to interpret green...

中時新聞網Feb 2026

卢秀访美 杨琼璎赞“自动补位”:搭建更稳固的...

卢 xiù yān fǎng měi yáng 琼 璎 zàn zì dòng bǔ wèi : dā jiàn gēng wěn gù de . . .

Lu Xiuyan's visit to the United States Yang Qiongying praised the "automatic filling": to build a more stable...

UdnnewsindexFeb 2026

新闻眼/食安阴霾 卢秀心中刺 绿捡到枪

xīn wén yǎn shí ān yīn 霾 卢 xiù yān xīn zhōng cì lǜ jiǎn dào qiāng

News Eye/Food Safety Haze Lu Xiuyan's heart stabbed Green picked up a gun

99 健康网Feb 2026

无糖的食物一览表有哪些?麦、坚果、蔬菜都算吗

wú táng de shí wù yī lǎn biǎo yǒu nǎ xiē ? yān mài , jiān guǒ , shū cài dōu suàn ma

What is the list of sugar-free foods? Oats, nuts, and vegetables all count

Hk01.comFeb 2026

...马利中山大宅跟北方煮锅贴过年 圈中老公杜歌系清朝皇族后裔

. . . mǎ lì zhōng shān dà zhái gēn běi fāng zhǔ guō tiē guò nián juān zhōng lǎo gōng dù yān gē xì qīng cháo huáng zú hòu yì

... Mali Zhongshan Mansion and the north cook potstickers for the New Year, and her husband Du Yange in the circle is a descendant of the Qing Dynasty royal family

Tatoeba

汤姆通常早饭只吃麦。

Tāngmǔ tōngcháng zǎofàn zhǐ chī yànmài.

Tom usually only eats oatmeal for breakfast.

Tatoeba

这只子的翅膀受伤了。

Zhè zhī yànzi de chìbǎng shòushāng le.

This swallow's wing is injured.

Tatoeba

许多子不久就要从南方飞来了。

Xǔduō yànzi bùjiǔ jiù yào cóng nánfāng fēi lái le.

Many swallows will come soon from the south.

Tatoeba

秋天的时候,子会往南飞。

Qiūtiān de shíhou, yànzi huì wǎng nán fēi.

In the autumn, swallows will fly south.

Character Family

Homophones — Characters pronounced yān

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 燕 (yān) mean in Chinese?
燕 (yān) primarily means "yan, a vassal state of zhou in present-day hebei and liaoning." It is classified as HSK Level 7-9, making it an expert-level character. It ranks #1690 in character frequency.
What's the difference between 燕 and 南?
燕 (yān) and 南 (nán) are often confused. antonym. The key distinguishing feature: 燕 (north) vs 南 (south).
How many strokes does 燕 have?
燕 is written with 16 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 燕?
The radical associated with 燕 is 火 (fire). This radical appears in many characters related to fire.
What are the components of 燕?
燕 is composed of: undefined (phonetic), undefined (phonetic). Its IDS decomposition is ⿱⿱廿⿻口北灬 with a top-bottom layout. Understanding the components helps with both memorization and recognizing related characters.
What are common words containing 燕?
Common words with 燕 include: 燕尾服 (yàn wěi fú, "swallow-tailed coat"); 燕麦 (yàn mài, "oats"); 燕子 (yàn zi, "swallow"); 燕窝 (yàn wō, "edible bird's nest"); 雨燕 (yǔ yàn, "swift"). There are over 100 compound words containing this character.
What characters sound the same as 燕 (yān)?
Several characters share the pronunciation yān: 烟 (smoke), 延 (to prolong), 严 (tight (closely sealed)), 言 (words), and 6 more. Context and tones help distinguish between them in speech and writing.
Is 燕 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Yes, 燕 is written the same way in both simplified and traditional Chinese.

Practice writing with real-time feedback

Trace stroke sequences, hear native 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.