Yàn
proper noun #64,064

Meanings

  1. 1 Yan (a Chinese surname)
  2. 2 late, calm, peaceful

Examples

HSK 4
Yàn Shū shì Běisòng zhùmíng círén.
Yan Shu was a famous lyric poet of the Northern Song dynasty.
HSK 6
Tā xìng Yàn, míng Qīng, shì wǒ de tóngshì.
His surname is Yan and his given name is Qing - he's my colleague.

Tips

culture
As a single character also has a literary meaning of 'late' (as in 晏起 'to rise late') and 'peaceful' (as in 河清海晏 'rivers clear and seas calm' - a peaceful era). The character pictures the sun over an 'peace' element.

Components

radical
sun; day
Sun radical at the top, the indexing radical. means late in the day or calm and at ease - both senses anchored in time-of-day imagery, the sun riding high and steady. The radical places in the sun family with hour, early, late, clear-sky.
phonetic
ān
peace; calm
Bottom supplies the sound - ān shifting to yàn. There is a quiet semantic echo: means at peace, and carries the same untroubled sense in compounds like 安晏. Best known today as the surname of Spring and Autumn statesman 晏婴.

In Pop Culture

Yàn Yīng
Yan Ying
Spring and Autumn period statesman of the State of Qi (c. 578-500 BCE), famous for his sharp wit and short stature; subject of the classic 晏子春秋 (Annals of Master Yan).
Yàn Shū
Yan Shu
Northern Song dynasty poet and prime minister (991-1055), one of the great early ci-poetry writers.

Stroke Order

Yàn