耳順之年

Chinese

		ear	to obey; to follow; to arrange to obey; to follow; to arrange; to make reasonable; along; favourable	's; him/her/it; this	year
trad. (耳順之年)		耳	順	之	年
simp. (耳顺之年)		耳	顺	之	年

Etymology

From the Analects, Book 2 (《論語·爲政》):

子曰：「吾十有五而志于學，三十而立，四十而不惑，五十而知天命，六十而耳順，七十而從心所欲，不踰矩。」 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

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子曰：「吾十有五而志于学，三十而立，四十而不惑，五十而知天命，六十而耳顺，七十而从心所欲，不逾矩。」 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: The Analects of Confucius, c. 475 – 221 BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

Zǐyuē: “Wú shí yòu wǔ ér zhì yú xué, sānshí ér lì, sìshí ér bùhuò, wǔshí ér zhī tiānmìng, liùshí ér ěr shùn, qīshí ér cóng xīn suǒ yù, bù yújǔ.” [Pinyin]

The Master said, "At fifteen, I had my mind bent on learning. At thirty, I stood firm. At forty, I had no doubts. At fifty, I knew the decrees of Heaven. At sixty, my ear was an obedient organ for the reception of truth. At seventy, I could follow what my heart desired, without transgressing what was right.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): ěrshùnzhīnián

  (Zhuyin): ㄦˇ ㄕㄨㄣˋ ㄓ ㄋㄧㄢˊ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): ji⁵ seon⁶ zi¹ nin⁴

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: ěrshùnzhīnián
    • Zhuyin: ㄦˇ ㄕㄨㄣˋ ㄓ ㄋㄧㄢˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: ěrshùnjhihnián
    • Wade–Giles: êrh³-shun⁴-chih¹-nien²
    • Yale: ěr-shwùn-jr̄-nyán
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: eelshuennjynian
    • Palladius: эршуньчжинянь (eršunʹčžinjanʹ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ˀɤɻ²¹⁴⁻²¹ ʂu̯ən⁵¹ ʈ͡ʂʐ̩⁵⁵ ni̯ɛn³⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: ji⁵ seon⁶ zi¹ nin⁴
    • Yale: yíh seuhn jī nìhn
    • Cantonese Pinyin: ji⁵ soen⁶ dzi¹ nin⁴
    • Guangdong Romanization: yi⁵ sên⁶ ji¹ nin⁴
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /jiː¹³ sɵn²² t͡siː⁵⁵ niːn²¹/

Idiom

耳順之年

1. (literary) sixty years old

Synonyms

• 花甲之年 (huājiǎzhīnián)