How to Write 灿 (càn) — Meaning “bright; brilliant”

Imagine a mountain (山) on fire (火) — the flames make it shine brilliantly. This visual of a burning mountain helps you recall that 灿 means 'bright; brilliant'.

The left radical 火 has four strokes: dot, short left-falling, dot, then right-falling — do not merge it into the four-dot bottom (灬). The right side 山 should be slightly narrower than the left, and its middle vertical stroke is the longest.

灿 (càn) means bright and has fire on the left and mountain on the right. 灭 (miè) means 'extinguish' and is fire covered by a horizontal line (一). 灯 (dēng) means 'lamp' and combines fire with 丁 (dīng). They all use the fire radical but have different right sides and meanings.

灿 is most often used in the word 灿烂 (cànlàn), meaning 'splendid' or 'magnificent', for example 灿烂的阳光 (brilliant sunshine). It also appears in names to convey brightness and is associated with positive, radiant imagery.

Common words containing 灿 include: 灿烂 (càn làn) — magnificent; splendid; 灿然 (càn rán) — brilliantly; brightly; 金灿灿 (jīn càn càn) — Golden-bright.