《
说文解字》 (the Han-era character dictionary) defines
赊 as
贳买也 — "to buy on deferred payment." The character carries the
贝 ("shell/money") radical, signalling its commercial origins: shells were China's earliest currency, so
贝 marks money/value words. The famous
阿Q
鲁迅 story has
阿Q
赊 a couple bowls of wine — capturing the everyday small-credit economy of pre-modern village shops.
