知命之年

Chinese

		age of fifty; to understand the Decree of Heaven; to know destiny	's; him/her/it; this	year
simp. and trad. (知命之年)		知命	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): zhīmìngzhīnián

  (Zhuyin): ㄓ ㄇㄧㄥˋ ㄓ ㄋㄧㄢˊ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): zi¹ ming⁶ zi¹ nin⁴

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: zhīmìngzhīnián
    • Zhuyin: ㄓ ㄇㄧㄥˋ ㄓ ㄋㄧㄢˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: jhihmìngjhihnián
    • Wade–Giles: chih¹-ming⁴-chih¹-nien²
    • Yale: jr̄-mìng-jr̄-nyán
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: jyminqjynian
    • Palladius: чжиминчжинянь (čžiminčžinjanʹ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʈ͡ʂʐ̩⁵⁵ miŋ⁵¹ ʈ͡ʂʐ̩⁵⁵ ni̯ɛn³⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: zi¹ ming⁶ zi¹ nin⁴
    • Yale: jī mihng jī nìhn
    • Cantonese Pinyin: dzi¹ ming⁶ dzi¹ nin⁴
    • Guangdong Romanization: ji¹ ming⁶ ji¹ nin⁴
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡siː⁵⁵ mɪŋ²² t͡siː⁵⁵ niːn²¹/

Idiom

知命之年

1. 50 years old; to be a quinquagenarian