Chinese character 寁

寁 means “quick” or “fast,” chiefly in Classical Chinese.

寁 appears in 不寁故也, a line in the Book of Odes (Shijing), an ancient Chinese poetry collection whose written versions existed by at least the fourth century BCE. The Eastern Han dictionary Shuowen Jiezi glosses it with a phrase meaning “quick in dwelling.” It analyzes 寁 as 宀, the roof component that suggests a dwelling, plus 疌, which supplies the sound; later dictionaries gloss it as quick or fast.

Why is 寁 debated in the Book of Odes?

The line leaves open what is done quickly.

In 不寁故也, 寁 works like a verb, so “quick” describes an action. One interpretation is “not quickly abandon old ties,” with 故 meaning old ties; a reading in the Mao commentary tradition, one line of classical interpretation, instead takes it as “not quickly carry out the old way.” The difference is what action the verb describes, not which character is printed.

The parallel 不寁好也 keeps the ambiguity: 好 can refer to a good way or to a relationship. The Shuowen Jiezi commentary links 寁 to historical forms 𢈻 and 撍. A Sinica character record notes 簪 as a borrowed written form for 寁 in its quick or fast sense; these are historical connections, not modern spelling options.

Should you send 寁 to mean “quick”?

Only when the reader expects classical or specialist Chinese.

In ordinary modern writing, use 快 or 迅速. When 寁 arrives by itself in a modern message, treat it as literary or specialist until context clarifies why the sender chose it.