How to Write 煞 (shā/shà) — Meaning “very; to stop; evil spirit”

Imagine a furious ghost (evil spirit) slamming on the brakes (to stop) of a car, causing sparks from the tires that burst into fire (灬). The top part 攵 looks like a hand pressing down hard, helping you recall both 'stop' and 'evil spirit'.

Write the top part 攵 first (4 strokes: left-falling, horizontal, left-falling, right-falling), then the left side 刂 (2 strokes: vertical hook, vertical cut), and finally the bottom 灬 (4 strokes: left dot, right dot, left dot, right dot). Common mistakes include making the fire radical too wide or forgetting that the top 攵 has two downward strokes, not one.

煞 (shā) means 'evil spirit' or 'to stop', while 烹 (pēng) means 'to cook' or 'to boil' (as in cooking food over fire). 焉 (yān) is a classical Chinese function word meaning 'how' or 'thereupon' — it has no relation to stopping or evil spirits. Visually, 煞 has a 攵 and 刂 above fire, whereas 烹 has 亨 above fire, and 焉 has a bird-like shape above fire.

煞 is common in compound words like 煞车 (brake), 煞尾 (ending), and 煞费苦心 (to take great pains). It is less polite in casual speech — for example, 煞风景 means 'to spoil the fun' — so use it carefully. In Chinese superstition, 煞 can refer to malevolent spirits, and people may say 煞气 to describe an ominous feeling.

Common words containing 煞 include: 煞费苦心 (shà fèi kǔ xīn) — to take great pains; to go to a lot of trouble; 煞尾 (shā wěi) — The ending (of a piece of writing or music).; 煞车 (shā chē) — to brake (a vehicle).