How to Write 燹 (xiǎn) — Meaning “fire caused by war”

Imagine a fire (火) chasing two scared pigs (豩) running away — this chaotic scene reminds you of war fire destroying farms and animals. The two pigs also look like they are side by side, just as war and fire often go together.

燹 has 18 strokes. First write the left 火 (three strokes: dot, left-falling, right-falling), then the right part 豩 which is two 豕 written side by side. A common mistake is making the two 豕 too small or uneven — keep them balanced and similar in size.

燃 means 'to burn' and is common in modern Chinese, while 燹 specifically refers to war fire and is very rare. 燅 is an ancient character meaning 'to heat' or 'to boil' and has a different right side (覃 not 豩). Visually, 燹 has two 'pig' components, while 燃 has 然 and 燅 has 覃.

燹 appears almost only in formal or literary contexts, such as in the word 兵燹 (bīng xiǎn, calamities of war) or 烽燹 (fēng xiǎn, fires of war). You will not hear it in daily conversation — it is reserved for historical or poetic descriptions of war destruction.

Common words containing 燹 include: 兵燹 (bīng xiǎn) — Calamities of war; fire caused by war; 燹余 (xiǎn yú) — remains after a war fire; 烽燹 (fēng xiǎn) — the fires of war.