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:

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.]

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 yǒu wǔ ér zhì yú xué, sānshí ér lì, sìshí ér bùhuò, wǔshí ér zhī tiānmìng, liùshí ér ěr shùn, qīshí ér cóngxīnsuǒyù, 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 ㄓㄋㄧㄢˊ
Cantonese (Jyutping): bat¹ waak⁶ zi¹ nin⁴

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: bùhuòzhīnián [Phonetic: búhuòzhīnián]
  - Zhuyin: ㄅㄨˋ ㄏㄨㄛˋ ㄓㄋㄧㄢˊ
  - 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 xwɔ⁵¹ ʈ͡ʂʐ̩⁵⁵ njɛn³⁵/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
  - 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

forty years old