焚 (fén) is a Chinese character meaning “to burn”. It is written from 林 (woods; grove (two trees side by side)) and 火 (fire), one above the other, and takes 12 strokes.
Build the character for “to burn”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
林 + 火
Top–bottom structure
Structure from: cjkvi-ids (U+711A ⿱林火); makemeahanzi decomposition ⿱林火 (ideographic); strokes verified against hanzi-writer-data (林 0–7, 火 8–11)
Memory aid
Fire (火) spreading beneath a forest (林): the woods are burning.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
12 strokes
In real words
- 焚烧fén shāoto burn; to incinerate焚 = fén
- 玩火自焚wán huǒ zì fénhe who plays with fire gets burned (idiom)焚 = fén
Go deeper
All readings
to burn
to burn; to set on fire
烧；用火烧毁。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 焚烧fén shāoto burn; to incinerate焚 = fén
- 玩火自焚wán huǒ zì fénhe who plays with fire gets burned (idiom)焚 = fén
Easy to confuse with
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 焚 mean?
焚 (fén) means to burn; to set on fire.
How do you pronounce 焚?
It is pronounced fén.
What parts is 焚 made of?
林 (woods; grove (two trees side by side)) and 火 (fire), one above the other. The recorded source is: cjkvi-ids (U+711A ⿱林火); makemeahanzi decomposition ⿱林火 (ideographic); strokes verified against hanzi-writer-data (林 0–7, 火 8–11). Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 焚 have?
12. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 焚?
火. The radical is how the character is filed in a dictionary — it is not the whole story of how the character is built.
What words use 焚?
Common ones are 焚烧 and 玩火自焚. The reading of 焚 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.