writing from top to bottom
Refers to the physical act of writing vertically, or the resulting text that runs from top to bottom.
Write vertically from top to bottom on the manuscript paper.
writing without a pause
Describes writing continuously, without stopping or breaking the flow.
He finished the paper in one go, writing without a pause.
translation of classical Chinese into Japanese
Abbreviation of 書き下し文. Refers to the practice of rendering classical Chinese texts into Japanese word order with kana annotations.
See also: 書き下し文
In classical Chinese class, we use the Japanese translation to understand the content.
transcription of Chinese classics into Japanese
Standard kanji spelling.
Variant kanji spelling; less common than 書き下し.
Compound of 書き (kaki, continuative form of 書く 'to write') + 下し (kudashi, continuative form of 下す 'to lower, to bring down'). The exact semantic extension to 'translation of classical Chinese' is uncertain, but likely relates to 'writing down' the Chinese text into Japanese order.