<p>i think that “挑上” is a specialised term in taoism, describing an action in writing charm paper (劃符)</p>
<p>上清天心正法</p>
<blockquote>
<p>使眞炁吹之・發筆<strong>挑上</strong>・鬼字寫在内</p>
</blockquote>
<p>靈寶無量度人上經大法</p>
<blockquote>
<p>止念其玉諱爲呪・不計其數・次以一筆<strong>挑上</strong>・蓋其形・呪曰</p>
</blockquote>
<p>上清靈寳大法</p>
<blockquote>
<p>又念四字・毎一字四轉塗之・共一十六轉・剔筆上出・次以一筆<strong>挑上</strong>・蓋之・呪曰</p>
</blockquote>
<p>so, the verse in 搜神記</p>
<blockquote>
<p>乃取筆挑上・語曰・救汝至九十年活</p>
</blockquote>
<p>read it as, the southern dipper deity took a pen, made a remark, and promised a life of 90 years, <strong>verbally</strong></p>
<p>further, the northern dipper deity was the in-charge of death, that the southern dipper deity need his counterpart’s help, to finish the formalities in the office </p>
<p>have fun :)</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-02-02T14:17:27.643Z
2024-02-02T14:17:27.643Z
水巷孑蠻
<p>I remember it is called a Reverse order marking (逆序標記), &quot;挑上&quot; describes the action of &quot;drawing a pen stroke&quot; (on a surface)</p>
<p>This indicates 十九 is changed to 九十</p>
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/bLYDN.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/bLYDN.png" alt="enter image description here" /></a></p>
<p>Reverse order marking and insert word marking</p>
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/eCDoa.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/eCDoa.png" alt="enter image description here" /></a></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-02-02T18:03:49.517Z
2024-02-02T19:01:22.533Z
2024-02-02T19:01:22.533Z
Tang Ho
<p>The question comes from a popular ancient legend from &quot;In Search of the Supernatural&quot; (搜神記, 4 century CE) about a person asking for his lifespan extension.</p>
<p>Here's the whole of it:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>管輅至平原，見顏超貌主夭亡。顏父乃求輅延命。輅曰：「子歸，覓清酒鹿脯一斤，卯日，刈麥地南大桑樹下，有二人圍位，次但酌酒置脯，飲盡更斟，以盡為度。若問汝，汝但拜之，勿言。必合有人救汝。」顏依言而往，果見二人圍碁，頻置脯，斟酒于前。其人貪戲，但飲酒食脯。不顧數巡，北邊坐者忽見顏在，叱曰：「何故在此？」顏惟拜之。南面坐者語曰：「適來飲他酒脯，寧無情乎？」北坐者曰：「文書已定。」南坐者曰：「借文書看之。」見超壽止可十九歲，乃取筆挑上語曰：「救汝至九十年活。」顏拜而回。管語顏曰：「大助子，且喜得增壽。北邊坐人是北斗，南邊坐人是南斗。南斗注生，北斗主死。凡人受胎，皆從南斗過北斗；所有祈求，皆向北斗。」</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The point of interest is this piece:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>見超壽止可十九歲，乃取筆挑上語曰：「救汝至九十年活。」</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The Southern Dipper God did something (挑上) to &quot;十九&quot; turning it into &quot;九十&quot;. I was wondering what exactly it was and the only satisfactory commentary I've found stated that he put a certain mark or nitpick (挑) above (上) the characters, signifying the character order reversal.</p>
<p>Since then I was trying to find any further reference to this orthographical practice and find out how that mark could look like. Any leads?</p>

<grammar><writing><calligraphy>
A correction mark to indicate a word order reversal
# A correction mark to indicate a word order reversal

(Asked by: username_0 on 2024-02-02)

The question comes from a popular ancient legend from "In Search of the Supernatural" (搜神記, 4 century CE) about a person asking for his lifespan extension.

Here's the whole of it:

> 管輅至平原，見顏超貌主夭亡。顏父乃求輅延命。輅曰：「子歸，覓清酒鹿脯一斤，卯日，刈麥地南大桑樹下，有二人圍位，次但酌酒置脯，飲盡更斟，以盡為度。若問汝，汝但拜之，勿言。必合有人救汝。」顏依言而往，果見二人圍碁，頻置脯，斟酒于前。其人貪戲，但飲酒食脯。不顧數巡，北邊坐者忽見顏在，叱曰：「何故在此？」顏惟拜之。南面坐者語曰：「適來飲他酒脯，寧無情乎？」北坐者曰：「文書已定。」南坐者曰：「借文書看之。」見超壽止可十九歲，乃取筆挑上語曰：「救汝至九十年活。」顏拜而回。管語顏曰：「大助子，且喜得增壽。北邊坐人是北斗，南邊坐人是南斗。南斗注生，北斗主死。凡人受胎，皆從南斗過北斗；所有祈求，皆向北斗。」

The point of interest is this piece:

> 見超壽止可十九歲，乃取筆挑上語曰：「救汝至九十年活。」

The Southern Dipper God did something (挑上) to "十九" turning it into "九十". I was wondering what exactly it was and the only satisfactory commentary I've found stated that he put a certain mark or nitpick (挑) above (上) the characters, signifying the character order reversal.

Since then I was trying to find any further reference to this orthographical practice and find out how that mark could look like. Any leads?

**Tags:** grammar, writing, calligraphy


---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2024-02-02. Score: 2

i think that “挑上” is a specialised term in taoism, describing an action in writing charm paper (劃符)

上清天心正法

> 使眞炁吹之・發筆**挑上**・鬼字寫在内

靈寶無量度人上經大法

> 止念其玉諱爲呪・不計其數・次以一筆**挑上**・蓋其形・呪曰

上清靈寳大法

> 又念四字・毎一字四轉塗之・共一十六轉・剔筆上出・次以一筆**挑上**・蓋之・呪曰

so, the verse in 搜神記

> 乃取筆挑上・語曰・救汝至九十年活

read it as, the southern dipper deity took a pen, made a remark, and promised a life of 90 years, **verbally**

further, the northern dipper deity was the in-charge of death, that the southern dipper deity need his counterpart’s help, to finish the formalities in the office

have fun :)


---

### Answer by username_2 on 2024-02-02. Score: 0

I remember it is called a Reverse order marking (逆序標記), "挑上" describes the action of "drawing a pen stroke" (on a surface)

This indicates 十九 is changed to 九十

[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/bLYDN.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/bLYDN.png)

Reverse order marking and insert word marking

[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/eCDoa.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/eCDoa.png)


---

