Explore each form from the oldest known stage to today.
The character 速 evolved from ancient pictographs representing the concept of 'fast' or 'quick.' Its earliest forms in oracle bone and bronze scripts combined the radical 辵 (辶, meaning 'to walk' or 'movement') with 束 (meaning 'to bind' or 'gather'), suggesting the idea of moving swiftly in a focused, direct manner. Over time, the structure standardized into the modern form 速, used in Classical Chinese texts to mean 'speed,' 'rapid,' or 'to hasten.' It reflects how movement and urgency were conceptually tied to efficiency in ancient society. Arrived in Japan: The character 速 likely arrived in Japan during the early centuries CE, around the 5th to 6th centuries, when Chinese writing was introduced to Japan via Korean Peninsula scholars and Buddhist texts. It became part of the Japanese kanji system, used in words like 速度 (sokudo, 'speed') and 速い (hayai, 'fast').