How to Write 宴 (yàn) — Meaning “Banquet / Feast”

Picture a banquet under a roof: the roof (宀) covers a sunny day (日) where a woman (女) is serving food. This visual of a woman and sun inside a house helps you recall the three main parts stacked vertically.

Write the roof (宀) first with three strokes, then the sun (日) centered below it, and finally the woman (女) under the sun. A common mistake is making the 日 too wide or placing the 女 too far to one side, which breaks the balanced vertical stack.

宴 uses 日 and 女 under the roof, while 宓 has 必 (must) under the roof and means quiet, and 宕 has 石 (stone) and means delay. Visually, 宴 looks like a house with a sun and a woman, whereas 宓 looks like a house with a heart-like shape and 宕 looks like a house with a stone.

宴 appears in words like 宴会 (banquet), 晚宴 (formal dinner), and 婚宴 (wedding banquet). It describes formal, celebratory meals with many guests, especially important in Chinese culture where wedding banquets are a key tradition for families to gather and celebrate.

Common words containing 宴 include: 宴会 (yàn huì) — Banquet / Dinner party; 晚宴 (wǎn yàn) — banquet / formal dinner; 婚宴 (hūn yàn) — Wedding banquet.