Tai tou
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tai tou (Chinese: 抬頭, literally "shift head") can be divided into two forms, Nuo tai and Ping tai.
Nuo tai (Chinese: 挪抬, literally "move and shift") is a typographical device used in written Chinese to denote respect for the person being mentioned. It leaves a full-width (1 character wide) space before the first character of the person. This is still used in the Republic of China on Taiwan for important officials, such as the Late President Lord Chiang Kai-shek and Father of the Nation Dr. Sun Yat-sen.
Ping tai (Chinese: 平抬, literally "flat shift") is another form. The way to express the respect is shift the name of person directly to the head of the next line. This is an old-fashion and was usually seen in the document between emperor and ministers when minister mentioned the emperor.
[edit] Examples
- 國父 孫中山先生 - Father of the Nation (space) Mr. Sun Yat-sen
- 先總統 蔣公 - The Late President (space) Lord Chiang
- 起初 神創造天地 - In the beginning (space) God created the heaven and the earth (also due to formatting consistency between versions)
