Kao is used of height in both material and immaterial senses. It is supposed to present to the eye the semblance of looking up from a terrace or belvidere, and is here an adjective qualifying tsu ancestor understood.

Kao is supposed to be the picture of a raised terrace, and its common meaning is high, elevated; but here it is the surname of the founder of the Northern Ch'i dynasty, A.D. 550—589.