The Calligrapher — Jīn Nóng 金农

Qing 'Eight Eccentrics' master of archaic clerical script.

Qing calligrapher (), master of clerical script/regular script — Qing lacquer-script original, blunt brush, unmistakable. Qing dynasty

Cultural Story

且 is drawn from a stand for meat offered at the altar, a word of pause and addition. The 詩經 uses it to link lines, 且以喜乐. On the storyteller's tongue 且说 meant now let us speak of, the hinge between scenes in 三國演義 and 水滸傳. It held a breath before the next move. A sacrificial stand became a conjunction.

Common words & phrases

• 而且 moreover · and · besides
• 并且 and · also · furthermore
• 暂且 for now · temporarily
• 姑且 for the moment · tentatively
• 且说 let us say · meanwhile

Read the story behind the character

且 survives mostly glued to other words: 而且 tacks a second point onto your argument; 并且 closes a list. 暂且 and 姑且 are what you say when postponing, 姑且试试, try it for the moment. Spoken Chinese leans on 而且; the lone 且 is rare, a slightly literary pause. You meet it in subtitles and formal speech, the small word that says and also, not yet finished.