Chinese word dictionary

拣佛烧香

jiǎn fó shāo xiāng · to choose which Buddha to burn incense to (idiom); fig. to curry favor from the right person

Practice word

Word information

Simplified拣佛烧香

Traditional揀佛燒香

Pinyinjiǎn fó shāo xiāng

Part of speechDictionary

HSK 3.0Not listed

HSK 2.0Not listed

Character breakdown

Study each Hanzi separately, then return to the complete word so pronunciation, meaning, and movement stay connected.

拣jiǎn

to choose, to select; to gather, to pick up

佛fú

Buddha; Buddhist

烧shāo

to burn, to bake; to heat, to roast

香xiāng

incense; fragrant, aromatic

How to learn 拣佛烧香

Listen once without reading, repeat the pinyin with its tones, then write every character in sequence. Finally, recall the complete meaning instead of memorizing each character as an isolated translation.

When the word appears in a sentence, check whether its part of speech and meaning match the definition shown here. Chinese words can change nuance with context.

Related vocabulary

Words with the same characters

Compare how a familiar Hanzi changes meaning inside another word.

发烧fāshāo

to have a high temperature (from illness); to have a fever; (fig.) to be fascinated with; to obsess over; (fig.) flourishing; thriving; popular

香蕉xiāngjiāo

banana; CL:根[gen1],個|个[ge4],把[ba3]

香xiāng

fragrant; sweet smelling; aromatic; savory or appetizing; (to eat) with relish; (of sleep) sound; perfume or spice; joss or incense stick; CL:根[gen1]

仿佛fǎngfú

to seem; as if; seemingly; alike; similar

燃烧ránshāo

to ignite; to combust; to burn; combustion; flaming

烧shāo

to burn; to cook; to stew; to bake; to roast; to heat; to boil (tea, water etc); fever; to run a temperature; (coll.) to let things go to one's head