Kuai (dish) meat in large thin pieces in the manner of carpaccio, however the term "kuai" was used to refer to this method. "Kuai" is the preferred preparation of raw beef and lamb, or fish such as the carp, while meat from wild deer and boar were prepared as "xuan". Thinness in the slices or strips was an important factor for judging the quality of the dish. During the Zhou dynasty and the Warring States period, "kuai" made from all fauna were widely consumed. During the time of the Qin (221–206 BC) and Han (206 BC–220 AD) dynasties, "kuai" made from the
Kuai (dish) meat of land fauna became less popular with the term used to refer more and more to thinly sliced raw fish. The dish was widely consumed by all classes and coincides with the appearance of the character "kuai" (鱠) with its fish radical (魚) during this period (alongside the character 膾 with the "" meat radical). In addition, characters such as "kuai" (燴) with the fire radical (火) were introduced to indicate fish that has grilled to the rare stage and then thinly sliced, similar to Japanese tataki. Indeed, "kuai" and raw fish were so commonly consumed that Ying Shao