不惑之年

Chinese

		not; no	confuse	's; him/her/it; this	year
simp. and trad. (不惑之年)		不	惑	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): bùhuòzhīnián

  (Zhuyin): ㄅㄨˋ ㄏㄨㄛˋ ㄓ ㄋㄧㄢˊ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): bat¹ waak⁶ zi¹ nin⁴

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: bùhuòzhīnián [Phonetic: búhuòzhīnián]
    • Zhuyin: ㄅㄨˋ ㄏㄨㄛˋ ㄓ ㄋㄧㄢˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: bùhuòjhihnián
    • Wade–Giles: pu⁴-huo⁴-chih¹-nien²
    • Yale: bù-hwò-jr̄-nyán
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: buhuohjynian
    • Palladius: бухочжинянь (buxočžinjanʹ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /pu⁵¹⁻³⁵ xu̯ɔ⁵¹ ʈ͡ʂʐ̩⁵⁵ ni̯ɛn³⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: bat¹ waak⁶ zi¹ nin⁴
    • Yale: bāt waahk jī nìhn
    • Cantonese Pinyin: bat⁷ waak⁹ dzi¹ nin⁴
    • Guangdong Romanization: bed¹ wag⁶ ji¹ nin⁴
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /pɐt̚⁵ waːk̚² t͡siː⁵⁵ niːn²¹/

Idiom

不惑之年

1. forty years old