How to Write 烟 (yān) — Meaning “smoke; cigarette; tobacco”

Imagine a fire (火) inside a closed room (因) — the smoke has no way to escape, so the room fills with smoke. This picture links the parts to the meaning of smoke. Alternatively, think of a cigarette as a 'fire inside a box'.

Write the left radical 火 first: dot, short left-falling, short right-falling, dot. Then write the right part 因: the outer frame, then inner 大 (a big person), then close the box. A common mistake is to make the right part too wide or to forget the last dot inside 火.

炅 (jiǒng) has 日 (sun) under 火, meaning bright or blazing, while 炆 (wén) has 文 (text) under 火, meaning to cook slowly. In contrast, 烟 has 因 (cause) and means smoke or cigarette. The right components are visually distinct: 炅 uses a square 日, 炆 uses 文, and 烟 uses 因.

烟 is used in words like 吸烟 (xī yān) and 抽烟 (chōu yān) for smoking cigarettes, and 烟火 (yān huǒ) for fireworks or cooking smoke. Smoking is common in China but is being restricted in public places, and the character often appears on warning labels and signs.

Common words containing 烟 include: 吸烟 (xī yān) — to smoke; 抽烟 (chōu yān) — to smoke; 烟火 (yān huǒ) — fireworks; smoke and fire (from cooking).