源遠流長

lit. source is distant and the flow is long (idiom); fig. sth goes back to the dim and distant past / a lot of water has flowed under the bridge since then

to flow / to disseminate / to circulate or spread / to move or drift / to degenerate / to banish or send into exile / stream of water or sth resembling one / class, rate or grade

root / source / origin

length / long / forever / always / constantly

chief / head / elder / to grow / to develop / to increase / to enhance

far / distant / remote / (intensifier in a comparison) by far / much (lower etc)

to distance oneself from (classical)