迫

By extension: to press closely, to drive or force, to threaten, to approach.

In moral and emotional usage, it conveys the sense of pressure, urgency, or constraint, as in “to be driven by circumstance” or “to press upon.”

Originally, it meant to be close or intimate, but later the sense shifted toward pressure and coercion.

Phono-semantic compound:

辵 (쉬엄쉬엄 갈 착) — semantic component, representing movement or pursuit.

白 (흰 백) — phonetic component, providing the sound pò / bak and conveying brightness or directness.

Thus 辵 + 白 → 迫 — “to move closely or come near,” hence to press upon, to pursue closely.

In Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字):

「迫，近也。从辵，白聲。」

“迫 means to be near; composed of 辵 with phonetic 白.”

The earliest sense, “to approach or be close,” later evolved through semantic extension into “to press, urge, or compel,” reflecting the psychological and physical sense of pressure or closeness.

Semantic evolution:

Physical proximity → “to be close, near.”

Movement pressure → “to approach or pursue.”

Coercive pressure → “to oppress, compel, persecute.”

Temporal urgency → “to be imminent, pressing (e.g., 迫切, 緊迫).”

逼迫 (핍박) — oppression; coercion; to persecute

迫害 (박해) — persecution; suppression by force

迫切 (박절) — urgent; pressing; imminent

緊迫 (긴박) — tension; urgency; critical pressure

威迫 (위박) — intimidation; coercive threat

迫使 (박사) — to compel; to force someone to act

逼近/迫近 (핍근/박근) — to approach; to draw near

Kangxi Dictionary (康熙字典, vol. 1300):

「迫，近也，又逼也。」

“迫 means near, and by extension, to press or to coerce.”

In Buddhist and Confucian moral texts, it is used to describe existential urgency (迫切) — the awareness that time and circumstance are closing in, urging one toward decisive action.

Book of Han (漢書 · 賈誼傳):

「民迫於饑寒。」

“The people are oppressed by hunger and cold” — 迫 as to be constrained or pressed by hardship.

Zuo Commentary (左傳 · 僖公二十六年):

「迫於強敵。」

“Pressed by a powerful enemy” — military sense: to be besieged or surrounded.

Analects (論語 · 子罕):

「迫於利而行。」

“Acting under the pressure of profit” — moral sense: to be driven by external gain rather than virtue.

In East Asian literature, 迫 is often associated with moral and emotional constraint — a situation where external force or duty “presses” upon the individual.

Tang poetry example (李白 · 對酒詩):

「人生迫老在須臾。」

“Human life hastens toward old age in but a moment” — temporal sense: time presses forward.

In Japanese, the kun’yomi (훈독) sako signifies “a narrow mountain valley,” derived metaphorically from the same root idea of pressure and closeness between mountains.

In the human condition it represents the moment of urgency and compression, when one is “driven to the edge” and must choose between yielding and enduring.

Thus, 迫 encapsulates both physical nearness and psychological pressure — the felt force of what cannot be escaped.

廹 (U+5EF9) — ancient clerical variant.

敀 (U+6540) — graphic variant used interchangeably in early texts.

𤽐 (U+24F50, ⿰白攴) — archaic cognate related in sound and meaning.