进而
jìnér · HSK 7
proceeding to the next step
➡️ 进 advance + 而 and-then = advance and then go further to the next step
进 means advance or move forward; 而 is a linking word meaning and-then. Together they mark moving from one step on to the next: first this, 进而 then that follows.
进 — walk radical 辶 + well 井
Originally a semantic-phonetic compound: the walking radical 辶 gives the meaning of movement, while 井 (jǐng, 'well') supplied the sound. The traditional form 進 used 隹 (short-tailed bird) suggesting forward flight; the simplified 进 swapped 隹 for the simpler phonetic 井. The core meaning 'to advance, enter' has stayed stable.
而 — pictograph of beard/whiskers hanging from chin
Originally a pictograph of a beard or facial hair hanging below the chin, visible clearly in oracle bone and bronze script forms. The beard meaning was lost early, and the character was borrowed phonetically to write the grammatical conjunction 'and/but/yet'. This connective use has been standard since classical Chinese.