How to Write 烘 (hōng) — Meaning “to bake; to dry by fire”

Imagine a common (共) campfire (火) where everyone gathers to bake marshmallows. The fire dries them and makes them warm, just like 烘 means to bake or dry by heat. Picture the two parts working together: fire plus the idea of something shared.

Write the left radical 火 first with the three strokes: dot, left-slanting stroke (丿), then right-slanting stroke (捺), but note the last stroke becomes a dot to make space. Then write 共: horizontal stroke, then vertical, then two horizontal strokes and a final downward stroke. A common mistake is making the fire radical too wide or forgetting to change the last stroke of 火 from 捺 to a dot.

烘 is common in baking (烘焙) and drying processes (烘干), such as in ovens or dryers. It also appears in the phrase 烘托 (hōngtuō), meaning to set off or highlight by contrast, like a dark background making a painting stand out. In Chinese culture, 烘 is associated with warming or enhancing, not just literal heating.

Common words containing 烘 include: 烘焙 (hōng bèi) — to bake; baking; 烘干 (hōng gān) — to dry (with heat); 烘托 (hōng tuō) — to set off; to highlight by contrast.