熏 (xūn) - Meaning, Stroke Order & Audio

熏

xūn[xun1]Tone 1

to smoke, fumigate, perfume

HSK 7

Multiple Readings (多音字):

Guru Deep Dive

English · to smoke, fumigate, perfume

Cached lesson

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Topology:Top-bottom

Strokes:14

Writing Balance Rule: The top component (艹 variant) sits wide and flat, while the middle part compresses, and the bottom fire element (灬) spreads wide to anchor the entire character.

1. Meaning

to smoke or fumigate

to assail the nostrils with a strong smellto perfume or scentto warm gently by heat or fire

VerbFormalBound morpheme#sensory#cooking#chemistry#smell

Sample Usage

房间里有一股熏肉的味道。
fángjiān lǐ yǒu yī gǔ xūn ròu de wèidào.
There is a scent of smoked meat in the room.
蚊香可以驱蚊。
wénxiāng kěyǐ qū wén.
Mosquito-repellent incense can drive away mosquitoes.

2. Sound

/[ɕyn˥˥]/Tone: 55

熏

xūnxun1

¯(55)

=xūn

Build the syllable

Step-by-step blending

xun

Tone mark placement: Tone mark sits on "u" per main-vowel priority (a > e > o; in -iu/-ui the mark takes the second vowel).

Initial Consonant

Type: Alveolo-Palatal Fricative

Sounds like: soft sh sound made closer to the teeth

Unaspirated

Airflow Tactile Test: Hissing friction with lips stretched wide in a smile.

Tongue & Mouth Position: Blade of the tongue approaches the hard palate with teeth close together.

Final Rhyme

Vowel Group: -v vowel group

Sounds like: u-n combined rhyme

Note: Written as 'un', pronounced as rounded 'ün' [y].

Mouth Shape Guide: Pronounce as standalone vowel 'ün'.

Common Learner Trap: Keep vowel quality steady across all 4 tone contours.

Abbreviated Rhyme Rule: The un in pinyin after x represents the rounded front vowel ü combined with n.

Tone

T1 (55)

5 → 5 (55)

1st Tone (High-Flat)

Tone Pitch & Cadence: Tone 1 stays flat and high, like a single note sung steadily at the top of your speaking voice.

👂

Listening trap: Learners often confuse xūn with xuān or xíon because of the tricky ü rounded vowel glide.

👋

Physical Tone Gesture: Keep the pitch high, flat, and steady at the top of your vocal range, like a sustained musical note on a piano.

3. Writing

Topology: Top-bottom · Strokes: 14 strokes

Writing Balance Rule: The top component (艹 variant) sits wide and flat, while the middle part compresses, and the bottom fire element (灬) spreads wide to anchor the entire character.

4. Components

Radical 灬 · fire radical (fire, heat, burning)

Semantic Clue (形旁): 灬 (indicates the presence of fire, smoke, and heat)

Phonetic Clue (声旁): 重 (original sound: zhòng / xūn phonetic family core)

The top parts represent herbs or materials placed over a source of smoke, and the bottom fire (灬) generates the continuous heat needed to smoke or perfume them.

艹 herbs, aromatics
重 heavy layers or structure
灬 fire / flames at the bottom

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

6· Phonetic Root: 熏 (xūn)

5. History

Liushu category: Phono-semantic (形声)

Origin: Originally depicting smoke rising from fire beneath burning fragrant herbs or heavy woods, evolving to signify the act of smoking, fumigating, and perfuming.

Semantic Evolution: From physical smoke rising over items to any process of exposing things to smoke, fumes, or strong lingering scents.

Used historically for preserving meats with smoke and creating medicinal fumigations.

6. Sinosphere

🇯🇵

Kanji (Japanese)

On: クン / Kun: いぶ.す

7. Memory

Vivid Mnemonic Story

A heavy (重) bundle of aromatic herbs is placed over a burning fire (灬) to smoke (xūn) and perfume the entire room.

Phonetic Family (形声字家族)

勳

+ 力 (power)

曛

xūntwilight; sunset+ 日 (sun)

獯

xūnused in 獯鬻[Xun1 yu4]+ 犭 (dog)

薰

xūnsweet-smelling grass; Coumarouna odorata+ 艹 (plants)

Explore this family →

Lookalikes & Traps (形近字)

晕(yūn)

晕 has the sun/day element (日) and means dizzy, whereas 熏 has the fire element (灬) at the bottom.

8. Mastery

Active Recall Challenge

这块腊肉是用柏树枝[___]出来的。

Clue: xūn

Common Learner Pitfall

Confusing the bottom fire dots (灬) with the four dots of other radicals, or mispronouncing the initial 'x' as an English 'h'.

Memory Prompts

Recognition: What does 熏 mean and how do you pronounce it with tone?

Production: How do you write the character for 'to smoke / fumigate' (xūn)?

熏xūnto smoke, fumigate, perfume

Speed:

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