How to Write 融 (róng) — Meaning “To melt / To blend / Harmonious”

Imagine an insect (虫) falling into a hot bronze cauldron (鬲) and immediately melting. This vivid image connects the character to its meanings of "to melt" and "to blend."

The left part 鬲 has 10 strokes and should be written narrow and tall, while the right side 虫 has 6 strokes and is smaller, centered vertically. A common mistake is making the 虫 too large or misplacing the dot in 鬲's top component, so pay close attention to stroke order and proportions.

While both share the 鬲 radical, 融 adds 虫 on the right and is a common modern character meaning "to melt" or "finance." 鬳 (yàn) is an ancient, rare character that refers to a specific type of cooking vessel and is almost never used today.

融 appears in everyday words like 金融 (finance), 融化 (to melt), and 融合 (to blend). It is also used in the idiom 融会贯通, which describes fully understanding and integrating knowledge from different sources.

Common words containing 融 include: 金融 (jīn róng) — Finance; 融化 (róng huà) — To melt / To thaw; 融合 (róng hé) — To fuse / To merge / To blend.