Sinograph Addenda · Signs

後after · hòu · after, behind; later

after

Where it comes from

Three pieces tell one small story: a road-step on the left, and on the right a little thread over a dragging foot — hobbled and trailing, falling behind on the march. Behind in space, then after in time. Taught in the if-and-then chapter.

How to remember it

At the left, the road-step (the walking half of 行walk · xíng · to walk, to go; to practice); at the right, a twist of thread over a dragging foot: hobbled on the march, falling behind — after.

In the wild