烧 (shāo) · to burn

Meanings

1 to burn
2 to cook; to roast; to stew
3 to have a fever

Characters

烧

shāo

to burn; to roast; to cook; fever

Examples

HSK 1

妈妈在烧菜。

Māma zài shāo cài.

Mom is cooking.

HSK 3

别把信烧了！

Bié bǎ xìn shāo le!

Don't burn the letter!

HSK 5

他发烧了，体温三十九度。

Tā fāshāo le, tǐwēn sānshíjiǔ dù.

He has a fever - his temperature is 39 degrees.

Tips

usage

烧 has many cooking meanings: 红烧 (braised in soy sauce), 烧烤 (barbecue), 烧饼 (baked flatbread). Each is a different cooking method.

culture

红烧肉 (red-braised pork) is one of China's most famous dishes and was reportedly Mao Zedong's favorite food.

Components

radical

火 huǒ

fire (left-side radical)

Left fire radical (Kangxi #86) - the four-stroke pictograph of leaping flames in compressed left-side form. Carries the meaning directly: every action of fire belongs here. Anchors 烧 with 烤 (bake), 燃 (ignite), 炒 (stir-fry), 煮 (boil), 灯 (lamp), 烟 (smoke) - the entire kitchen-and-combustion family.

phonetic

尧 yáo

Emperor Yao; lofty

Right phonetic 尧 - supplies the sound (yáo drifted to shāo, irregular but consistent across the family). Simplified from 堯, originally three 土 stacked over 兀 = a high mound, the legendary Emperor Yao's name. Pure sound-borrow here. Same phonetic in 浇 (water/pour), 绕 (wind around), 晓 (dawn), 翘 (raise) - all with similar onset drift.