繼

• Succession and Inheritance: Taking over a position, title, or lineage; the hand-off between parties.
• Sustained Continuity: The maintenance of a state, action, or tradition to ensure it does not cease.
• Sequentiality: Occurring one after another; an event following immediately upon another.
• Literal Splicing: The physical joining of textiles or cords.

Contrast with 續: While overlapping in later usage, older layers often distinguish the two. 繼 typically refers to succession (the transfer of a role or lineage), whereas 續 refers to extension (the physical lengthening of an object or the resumption of an interrupted activity).

Tang-period reading: //gèi//. Simplified variant: U+7EE7.

Rooted in the imagery of splicing or tying threads together (糸), moving from the literal act of joining two ends to create a continuous length to abstract notions of continuity.

In ambiguous passages, determine if the context is one of inheritance (person A to person B) or persistence (state A continuing as state A). If the surrounding vocabulary involves textiles, consider a literal reading of "joining" or "splicing" before opting for an abstract interpretation.