烹

pēng

boil, cook; execute by boiling

Meaning

Culinary: To boil, stew, or simmer.
Punitive: Execution by boiling alive (e.g., 烹殺).
Ritual: Preparation of sacrificial offerings via boiling.

Grammar and usage

Functions as a transitive verb. Appears in the compound 烹飪 (pèng rèn) regarding the general process of food preparation.

Distinctions

The distinction between culinary and punitive contexts depends entirely on the object of the verb.

History and forms

In Pre-Qin and early Han texts, this glyph refers to wet heat; readings involving "quick fry" or "stir-fry" are anachronistic for these periods.

Translator notes

First establish the era of the text to determine if "frying" is a plausible translation. Then, identify the object to distinguish between culinary and punitive contexts.

Decontextualized translator aid. This page describes plausible lexical range; it does not choose what the glyph means in a particular passage.