It is well known that the character represents two different particles in classical Chinese. Of these the temporal particle tserng, which refers an event to the indefinite past in the same manner as does charng, hardly appears in the extant literature until late in the third century B.C. According to a note on this word by Inoue Juro , there is only one example in pre-Chyn literature, in the phrase (“There has never been…,”) at the beginning of the first chapter of Mohtzyy. This chapter is among the latest parts of the book, and not necessarily earlier than the third century B.C. The first securely dated example is in the Leushyh chuenchiou, begun under the direction of Leu Buhwei (died 235 B.C.) and completed soon after the victory of the Chyn dynasty in 221 B.C.