The sitting posture in ancient Chinese is regarded as a posture of kneeling．In The Book of Rites ，it says，“若夫坐如尸”（When sitting，one should sit straight like a spirit tablet）．And another line says“坐不中席，行不中道，立不中门”，which means“when taking part in a feast，one should not sit in the middle，nor walk in the middle of the path，nor stand in the doorway”．Jia Yi，a famous scholar of the Han Dynasty，divided the posture of sittinginto four categories namely经坐（sitting tall with eyes looking ahead），恭坐（sitting in respect with the upper body inclining slightly），肃坐（sitting straight and squarely），卑坐（sitting with one's head lowered and elbows down）．

卩jié

卩is written as in oracle script and in small seal script．In Radical Section 卩from Shuo Wen ，it says，“卩，瑞信也。守国者用玉卪，守都鄙者用角卪，使山邦者用虎卪，士邦者用人卪，泽邦者用龙卪，门关者用符卪，货贿用玺卪，道路用旌卪。象相合之形”（卩means lucky luckycharms．The guardians of the country use jade卪，and the guardians of the capital use ivory卪,The guardians of the mountains use tiger teeth 卪,The officials use 卪 of human figure. The guardians of the seas use卩of a dragon．The guardians of the doors of city walls use Fu卩．Merchants use Xi卩．Guardians of the roads use Jing!．All the卩look like two parts that can be connected with each other）．According to Xu Shen，卩is the symbol of proving identity and passing command．

卩originally means a man kneel sitting on his legs．The shape of the character in oracles resembles that of a sitting posture of a man with both knees on the ground，a posture for worshiping ceremony．This is a pictographic character．The character is borrowed to mean tally as in符节．As a radical，this character is usually put on the right or the bottom of a word such as in卷to indicate the form element．

丮jǐ，jí

丮is written as in oracle script and in small seal script．In Radical Section丮 from Shuo Wen ，it says，“丮，持也。象手有所丮据也。读若戟”（丮means gripping．It looks like something is grabbed in the hands．Its sound follows the phonetic pattern of戟）．According to Xu Shen，丮means to grip．It is a pictograph like holding something in the hand．

According to Shuo Wen ，Xu Shen thought the meaning of丮was holding with hands．However，it may not be justified．This character is us-ually used as a radical，but not used as an individual word．And the words with the radical of丮 are often related to various actions or movements such as in 孰．In oracle script，the shape of丮is like a man kneeling on the ground，extending his hands out for something，indicating doing various actions，not only one type．

跪ɡuì

跪is written as in small seal script．In Radical Section 足from Shuo Wen ，it says，“跪，拜也。从足，危声”（跪means kowtow．It is categorized into the radical section足and its pronunciation follows the phonetic pattern of危）．According to Xu Shen，跪refers to the position in which knees are on the ground and hips are stretched out．It is a pictophonetic character with足as its ideographic element and危as its phonetic component．

The original meaning of跪is kneeling and kowtow．For example，in Strategies of Wei ， The Strategies of the Warring States ，it says“秦王色挠，长跪而谢之”，which means King of the State of Qin turned pale，knelt straight and apologized．In Biographies of Exemplary Women in The Book of Later Han Dynasty written by Fan Ye（398 AD－445 AD），there is an example of such usage as in“（乐羊子）一年来归，妻跪问其故”，which means“Yueyangzi came back home from his schooling in just one year and his wife knelt straight，asking the reasons for his early return”．

跽jì

跽is written as in small seal script．In Radical Section 足from Shuo Wen ，it says，“跽，长跪也。从足，忌声”（跽means kneeling for a long time．It is classified into the radical section足and its pronunciation follows the phonetic pattern of忌）．According to Xu Shen，跽means kneeling for a long while'，with the persons knees touching the ground．This position also requires to straighten up one's buttocks and the upper body．It is a pictophonetic character with足as its ideographic element and忌as itsphonetic component．

The oracle form of跽has the ideographic element of止and己，and the part of心is added later．The element of止is similar to that of足．

The original meaning of跽is kneeling straight．For example，in Records of the Grand Historian-Annals of Xiang Yu ，it says，“项王按剑而跽”，which means“Xiang Yu knelt straight with his hands on his sword”．And in The Collected Biographies of Fan Ju and Cai Ze from Records of the Grand Historian ，it reads“秦王跽而请曰：‘先生何以幸教寡人’”．In translation，this sentence means“Emperor Qin knelt straight and asked，‘What advice do you have for me，sir’”．

跽differs from坐（sit）in that跽refers to the posture with only both knees on the ground while the buttocks and the upper body straight；跪means both one's knees on the ground while the buttocks resting on the heels．When a person changes the sitting on the heels to sitting straight，it is usually a token of respect，surprise，shock or caution．Nowadays，when we meet an elderly，a senior，or a guest，we usually rise from our seat to show our respect and such an action is probably derived from the posture change from sitting on heels to sitting straight tradition．

In oracles，跽was often used as the name of the soothsayer． qtdE1SjLhzK+8zXm4N0YYY1yq9U26JIcc42qDjMe95wtdV24zEsmKyrhEasT7ohr