How to Write 焰 (yàn) — Meaning “flame”

Imagine a flame (火) rising from a deep pit (臽). The shape of 臽 looks like a person falling into a hole, and the fire on the left reminds you that this character means ‘flame’ — a fire that leaps out of a pit.

Write the left radical 火 first, making the last stroke a dot instead of a full right-falling stroke. The right part 臽 has a balanced structure: start with the ‘person’ top (⺈), then the bottom part (臼 without the inner lines) — do not confuse it with 陷’s right side. Keep the overall width even; the right side should not be too narrow.

焰 (flame) has the radical 火 on the left and a complex right part 臽, while 烊 (yáng) means ‘to melt’ and uses the right component 羊 (sheep). 烕 (miè) means ‘to extinguish’ and uses 戌 (a weapon) inside the fire radical; it is very rare. Visually, 焰’s right side has a top ‘person’ shape, unlike the others.

焰 appears in common words like 火焰 (flame) and 焰火 (fireworks). In Chinese culture, fireworks (焰火) are essential for festivals like Spring Festival and symbolize driving away evil spirits. The word 气焰 (literally ‘air flame’) is a negative term meaning ‘arrogance’ or ‘bluster’, as if someone’s temper burns like a flame.

Common words containing 焰 include: 火焰 (huǒ yàn) — flame; 焰火 (yàn huǒ) — fireworks; 气焰 (qì yàn) — Arrogance / Bluster.