How to Write 熏 (xūn) — Meaning “To smoke (food) / To fumigate”

Imagine a piece of meat hanging above a campfire (the top strokes) with four flames (灬) underneath, slowly being smoked into bacon. The top part looks like a little chimney or rack, and the fire below helps you recall the "smoking" action.

Pay attention to the top part: it has a short horizontal stroke first, then a left-falling stroke, and a right-falling stroke, forming a kind of lid. The middle section has a vertical stroke and multiple horizontal strokes, and the bottom 灬 must be evenly spaced with four dots. A common mistake is making the top too wide or forgetting the short horizontal stroke.

熏 has a unique top that looks like a smokestack or hanging meat, while 焦 has a bird-like top (隹) over fire, meaning "burnt" or "scorched." 然 has a left side 灬 (dog) and right side 火, meaning "so" or "correct," and its fire radical is on the right instead of the bottom. Visually, 熏 is the only one with that specific top structure above four dots.

熏 is commonly used in cooking, like 熏肉 (smoked meat or bacon), and in cultural contexts like 熏陶 (nurturing influence), which describes a person being positively shaped by their environment. It also appears in phrases like 熏黑 (to blacken with smoke), often used for walls or pots after cooking over a fire.

Common words containing 熏 include: 熏肉 (xūn ròu) — Smoked meat / Bacon; 熏陶 (xūn táo) — To be nurtured / To be influenced by a positive environment; 熏黑 (xūn hēi) — To blacken with smoke.