火

Fire Radical (火)

huǒ · 4 strokes

The fire radical (火) is one of the most common radicals in Chinese. It appears in 64 characters related to fire and associated concepts. 64 characters: 3 in HSK 1, 2 in HSK 2, 5 in HSK 3, 4 in HSK 4, 8 in HSK 5, 9 in HSK 6, 30 in HSK 7-9, 3 in HSK 7-9. Radical classifications follow the Kangxi radical system. Character data is based on the HSK 3.0 Standard (CLEC 2022 syllabus).

Radical vs. Component: 火 is also a character component. As a radical, it classifies characters in dictionaries. As a component, it appears as a building block contributing meaning, sound, or structure. For component-specific details including role analysis and position patterns, see the Fire Component (火) page.

Fire Radical at a Glance

Stroke Count4
Total Characters64
Most Common HSK LevelHSK 7-9 (30 characters)
Avg. Character Strokes11
ClassificationKangxi Radicals

All Fire Radical Characters

HSK 1 (3 characters)

火huǒfire热rèhot, to heat点diǎnpoint, o'clock

HSK 2 (2 characters)

黑hēiblack然ránnature, thus

HSK 3 (5 characters)

烧shāoto burn, to cook灯dēnglamp, light炼liànto refine熊xióngbear照zhàoshine, according to

HSK 4 (4 characters)

烟yānsmoke烤kǎoto roast, to bake烦fánto feel vexed熟shúcooked, familiar

HSK 5 (8 characters)

炸zhàto fry, to explode炒chǎoto stir-fry灰huīash, gray灵língquick燃ránto burn熬āoto boil煮zhǔto boil, to cook烈lièintense, fierce

HSK 6 (9 characters)

爆bàoto explode, to quick-fry煤méicoal烂lànsoft灾zāidisaster灭mièto extinguish or put out炎yánflame烫tàngto scald燥zàodry焦jiāoanxious, burnt

HSK 7-9 (30 characters)

炮pàocannon, firecracker炖dùnto stew焰yànflame炬jùtorch焚fénto burn炉lústove煲bāoto cook slowly over a low flame灿cànglorious炊chuīto cook food焊hànto weld烘hōngto bake焕huàn(bound form) shining煌huángbrilliant灸jiǔmoxibustion (TCM)烹pēngto boil煽shānto fan into a flame烁shuòbright炭tànwood charcoal熙xī(used in names)熄xīto extinguish炫xuànto dazzle熏xūnto smoke燕yānYan, a vassal state of Zhou in present-day Hebei and Liaoning灶zàokitchen stove烛zhúcandle灼zhuóto burn焙bèito dry over a fire熨yùreconciled煎jiānto fry, to pan-fry蒸zhēngto steam

HSK 7-9 (3 characters)

熔róngto smelt烷wánalkane焖mènto cook in a covered vessel

Frequently Asked Questions

What does the fire radical mean in Chinese characters?
The fire radical (火) signals a semantic connection to fire-related concepts. When you see 火 in a character, it typically indicates the character's meaning involves fire or associated ideas. With 64 characters using this radical, it is one of the more productive radicals in Chinese. Radical classifications follow the Kangxi radical system, the traditional standard for organizing Chinese characters.
How many characters use the fire radical?
There are 64 characters with the fire radical (火) in the HSK 3.0 character set (CLEC 2022 syllabus): 3 in HSK 1, 2 in HSK 2, 5 in HSK 3, 4 in HSK 4, 8 in HSK 5, 9 in HSK 6, 30 in HSK 7-9, 3 in HSK 7-9. The distribution across HSK levels reflects how fundamental fire-related concepts are at each stage of Mandarin learning.
What are the most common fire radical characters?
By frequency of use, the most common characters with the fire radical (火) are: 然 (rán, "nature, thus"), 点 (diǎn, "point, o'clock"), 火 (huǒ, "fire"), 照 (zhào, "shine, according to"), 黑 (hēi, "black"). These high-frequency characters are among the first fire-related characters most learners encounter.
What HSK levels include fire radical characters?
Characters with the fire radical (火) appear across 8 HSK levels: 3 in HSK 1, 2 in HSK 2, 5 in HSK 3, 4 in HSK 4, 8 in HSK 5, 9 in HSK 6, 30 in HSK 7-9, 3 in HSK 7-9. The largest concentration is at HSK 7-9 with 30 characters. Earlier HSK levels introduce the most common fire-related characters, while advanced levels add specialized or literary terms.

Sources & Standards

Radical classifications on this page follow the Kangxi radical system (康熙部首), the standard set of 214 radicals codified in the Kangxi Dictionary (康熙字典, 1716). Character data is based on the HSK 3.0 Standard (《国际中文教育中文水平等级标准》), published by the Center for Language Education and Cooperation (CLEC), Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China, 2022 revision.