Zi Collection, Middle Volume Radical: Silk (mì) Page 1085, Entry 02 The dictionary Explaining Graphs and Analyzing Characters (Shuowen Jiezi) states that the character meaning to continue consists of the components for silk and the phonetic element meaning to connect. Another interpretation suggests that reversing the component meaning to connect creates the character for continue. The Zhuangzi (Zhuangzi), in the chapter on perfect happiness, records that when things receive nourishment from water, they transform into this connected state. The Sound and Meaning (Yinyi) explains that when all things receive the nourishment of the breath of water and earth, they are able to connect front to back and grow continuously. Pronounced ji.