To "raise the ancient precedent." A Chan term which refers to the act/exercise of the teacher of bringing up a citation from an important earlier text （usually， but not always kongan literature）， and then analyzing its meaning in order to instruct students. It is often used in the compound phrase 拈古颂古， which means to raise and analyze an ancient precedent， and then to write and attach one's own verse to it. This became a form of Ch'an/Son/Zen literary genre. Syn. With 拈提.