This is often used in formal writing before using pronouns such as 貴 (guì, literally "precious, expensive", or "noble") to show respect.
This is also sometimes still used in Taiwan for important officials, such as Chiang Kai-shek and Sun Yat-sen, although this practice has gradually fallen out of favor.
[example needed] (reading left to right) Ping tai (Chinese: 平抬, literally "level shift") is another form.
Shuang tai (Chinese: 雙抬, literally "double shift") as above, but two characters above a normal line.
Such a practise is used for characters denoting the divine, such as Heaven, Earth, and deceased ancestors (天, 地 and 祖宗).