Han character 粲

It names finely milled rice and can also describe bright or beautiful things.

The Shuowen Jiezi, an early Chinese character dictionary, explains the rice sense by the amount of grain left after polishing.

In classical compounds, 粲然 describes a bright or smiling appearance; the phrase tells you not to read 粲 as rice there.

粲 vs 灿: are they the same?

No. 灿 is the simplified form of 燦, which contains 粲.

燦 uses 粲 as its right-hand component and adds the fire component 火 on the left; it means brilliant or radiant. 粲 is a separate character with its own rice and literary senses.