繼

See also: 𦂣 and 继

繼 U+7E7C, 繼 CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-7E7C ← 繻 [U+7E7B] CJK Unified Ideographs 繽 → [U+7E7D]

Translingual

Traditional	繼
Shinjitai	継
Simplified	继

Han character

繼 (Kangxi radical 120, 糸+14, 20 strokes, cangjie input 女火女女戈 (VFVVI), four-corner 2291₃, composition ⿰糹㡭)

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 941, character 34
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 27997
• Dae Jaweon: page 1381, character 9
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 5, page 3464, character 13
• Unihan data for U+7E7C

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Chinese

trad.		繼
simp.		继
alternative forms		継 㡭

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 繼
Spring and Autumn	Warring States	Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)
Bronze inscriptions	Qin slip script	Small seal script

Characters in the same phonetic series (繼) (Zhengzhang, 2003) 

	Old Chinese
繼	*keːɡs
檵	*keːɡs

Phono-semantic compound (形聲／形声, OC *keːɡs) : semantic 糸 (“rope”) + phonetic 㡭 ().

The original form may have depicted four 幺 (“silk”).

Etymology

According to Schuessler 2007, originally the same word as 係 (OC *keːɡs).

Definitions

(deprecated template usage) 繼

1. to continue; to maintain; to carry on; to follow

   • 苟信不繼，盟無益也。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     苟信不继，盟无益也。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: Commentary of Zuo, c. 4^th century BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

     Gǒu xìn bù jì, méng wúyì yě. [Pinyin]

     If there be not the appendage of good faith, covenants are of no use.

   • 吾聞之也，君子周急不繼富。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     吾闻之也，君子周急不继富。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: The Analects of Confucius, c. 475 – 221 BCE

     Wú wén zhī yě, jūnzǐ zhōu jí bù jì fù. [Pinyin]

     I have heard that 'a superior man helps the distressed, but does not add to the wealth of the rich'.

2. to inherit; to succeed

   繼承／继承  ―  jìchéng  ―  to inherit

   繼位／继位  ―  jìwèi  ―  to succeed to the throne; to inherit the throne

   • 今夫封建者，繼世而理。繼世而理者，上果賢乎？下果不肖乎？則生人之理亂，未可知也。 [MSC, trad.]
     今夫封建者，继世而理。继世而理者，上果贤乎？下果不肖乎？则生人之理乱，未可知也。 [MSC, simp.]

     From: Liu Zongyuan,《封建論》On Investiture, 9th century CE (translated by Nolan Bensen)

     Jīn fú fēngjiàn zhě, jì shì ér lǐ. Jì shì ér lǐ zhě, shàng guǒ xián hū? Xià guǒ bùxiào hū? Zé shēngrén zhī lǐluàn, wèikě zhī yě. [Pinyin]

     Our present investitures, they practice government through inheritance. Those who inherit the right to govern, in the end can they be [expected to be] virtuous? When it comes down to it are they not unworthy? If so then we cannot yet know whether humanity will be governed or thrown into turmoil.

References

• “繼”, in 漢語多功能字庫 (Multi-function Chinese Character Database)‎^[1], 香港中文大學 (the Chinese University of Hong Kong), 2014–

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Japanese

Shinjitai	継
Kyūjitai	繼

Kanji

繼

(Hyōgai kanji, kyūjitai kanji, shinjitai form 継)

1. acquire by birthright
2. follow in someone's footsteps or position
3. (clothes) patch
4. (be) grafted into a tree

Readings

• Go-on: け (ke)
• Kan-on: けい (kei)
• Kun: つぐ (tsugu, 繼ぐ)、まま (mama)

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
繼
つぎ Hyōgai
kun'yomi

For pronunciation and definitions of 繼 – see the following entry: つぎ

(The following entry is uncreated: つぎ.)

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
繼
まま Hyōgai
kun'yomi

For pronunciation and definitions of 繼 – see the following entry: まま

(The following entry is uncreated: まま.)

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Korean

Hanja

繼 (eumhun 이을 계 (ieul gye))

1. continue
2. persist
3. inherit

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Vietnamese

Han character

繼: Hán Nôm readings: kế

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.