How to Write 飧 (sūn) — Meaning “evening meal; cooked rice”

Picture the left side 食 as a bowl of rice, and the right side 夕 as the setting sun. When the sun goes down (夕), you eat your dinner (食), so 飧 is your evening meal.

The left radical 食 is written with the top stroke starting as a small left-falling stroke, then a horizontal, and the bottom part has a short vertical and two dots. A common mistake is to make the right side 夕 too large—it should be compact and sit slightly lower than the left side.

飧 has 夕 (evening) on the right, while 飬 has a different right component (often related to sheep or nourishing). Their meanings are also different: 飧 means 'evening meal,' whereas 飬 is a rare character meaning 'to feed' or 'to nourish.'

飧 is rarely used alone in daily speech; it appears mostly in literary or classical expressions like 饔飧 (yōng sūn), meaning 'breakfast and dinner' or 'daily meals.' It carries a classical, poetic feel and is sometimes used in formal writing about traditional meal customs.

Common words containing 飧 include: 饔飧 (yōng sūn) — breakfast and dinner; daily meals; 晨飧 (chén sūn) — Breakfast (literary); 飧饭 (sūn fàn) — supper; evening meal.