Confucius said, "I am determined to learn at five out of ten, stand at thirty, be puzzled at forty, know my destiny at fifty, listen at sixty, and act at seventy without overstepping the bounds."

From "The Analects of Confucius for Politics":

Confucius said, "Nine times out of ten, I am determined to learn, standing at 30, not confused at 40, knowing my destiny at 50, obeying at 60, and not overstepping at 70."

Classical Chinese word meaning:

Stand at thirty; Refers to the career of Confucius at the age of 30, and his theory has gradually become a system. Not confused: not confused when something happens, less confused. Know destiny: understand destiny and treat yourself correctly. It is easy to hear. I can listen to all kinds of words and tolerate them. At seventy, it's not too much to do what you want: at seventy, it's not too much to do what you want. From: Tong. Don't go beyond the rules: don't go beyond the rules

"20-year-old, 30-year-old, 40-year-old, 50-year-old, 60-year-old, 70-old and 80-year-old" is often used to refer to age.

Original poetry:

Confucius said: when I was fifteen, I was determined to study; At the age of thirty, I can stand in the world; Forty years old can avoid confusion; At the age of fifty, I have been able to understand fate; At the age of sixty, you can obey your fate; By the age of seventy, I can finally do whatever I want, and everything I do conforms to the rules.

We know Confucius died at the age of 73. According to the Biography of Confucius, Confucius lost his father at the age of three. When I was a child, I lived a poor life with my mother. In fact, he likes reading and studying since he was a child. After 15 years old, in order to help my family, I became a person and was hired to play music and pray when the nobles needed etiquette, such as weddings, funerals and sacrifices. Later, because of the opposition of Confucius' mother, he picked up the book again. After his mother died, Confucius was frustrated in his job search and strengthened his determination to study. He studied hard for more than ten years, worked in the Ji family, opened a private school, and educated the children of nobles, civilians and even slaves with the spirit of teaching without discrimination. At the age of 30, he became more and more famous. At the age of thirty-five, there was civil strife in Lu, and Confucius went to Qi, where he served as Gao's minister, hoping to serve wholeheartedly, but he was blocked by Yan Ying, the prime minister of Qi. Three years later, I was disappointed to return to Lu to coach again. Learning and teaching make up for political frustration, and I have learned more from it. At the age of 50, there was a riot in Lu, and at the age of 5 1, he resumed his status as an official and was all killed. Confucius wiped out thieves, gamblers and vagrants in three months. Because of his outstanding performance, he was promoted to chief inspector (the highest judicial officer) to enforce the law fairly within one year, and won a diplomatic victory at the Qilu conference on Oracle bones, reducing the number of people living in the Third Ring Road, calming down the civil strife of ministers and killing Shao Zhengmao. Among them, Shao Zhengmao's murder is controversial. In addition, the saying that "Lu ruled in March" also refers to this time. Unfortunately, at 56, he was fired. Confucius had to leave Shandong and travel around the world with his students. It was a hard process. Later, with the help of student Ran, he was called up to rebel against Lu. Confucius was sixty-eight years old. After that, Confucius focused on sorting out classics and lagging behind in education until his death.

Moral:

The stages of Xiu De's study: first, he is eager to learn; Second, establish your own basic ideas to gain a firm foothold; Third, there are many personnel differences, but it is inevitable that there will be conflicts with foreign things, so this heart will be confused and you must study things to get it; Fourth, in order to know the destiny, you can be firm and not confused, but you may encounter difficulties and obstacles when implementing it, and you must be able to know the destiny; Fifth, there are smooth things and unsmooth things in the ears. Knowing the truth that it is not smooth, you should be able to cultivate everything that is smooth in your ears; Six roots follow one's heart without overstepping the moment, which is the highest state of learning from Xiu De. This passage has different interpretations. What "ambition" do you mainly focus on? What is "standing"? What is "not confused"? What is "listening"? To what extent do you know your destiny? Wait a minute. In fact, they are literally direct explanations. For example, Cheng Changming's translation pointed out that in the Zhou Dynasty, children entered primary school at the age of eight. Learn basic culture and martial arts and so on. He entered the university at the age of fifteen, and the university was also called "Imperial College". There, learn to be a man, run the country and keep the country safe, and so on. Zhu said in Notes to Four Books: "Scholars can learn from adults." Fifteen years old: I am curious about everything and have a strong thirst for knowledge. I want to learn everything, and my mind is full of questions. Absorb new knowledge very quickly. Anyway, just learn. Thirty: It's a good time to make your own statement. Not broken, not standing. It's time to put forward your own independent opinions. In his thirties, he is always so ambitious. It's really called "crazy watching the world is really drunk" The road stumbled and spilled all over the floor. Some people stood up and some fell down. Forty, the golden age of life! Although there is less excitement, there is more rationality, maturity and appreciation. You know your destiny at the age of fifty, and you should have foreseen it at the age of forty. This is actually a kind of cleverness. Otherwise, why is it called "the year of no doubt"? Cen Can, a poet in the Tang Dynasty, said: "A husband who is not rich in his thirties can guard his pen and ink inkstone all day." . Zhang Jiuling believes: "If people have not achieved anything by the age of 50, it is a big mistake." . We savor the ancient people's understanding of life and truly understand "standing", "not confusing" and "destiny". This sentence is helpful for us to cherish life, grasp the future and destiny, and effectively arrange the course of life.

So, how can we achieve the perfection of personality? According to Confucius, it is obviously too far away for a person to reach the perfection of personality until he is seventy years old. In fact, these are only several stages of personality perfection, and the process can be compressed. In real life, people in their sixties and seventies are still very interesting, but there are also people in their thirties and forties who are very open-minded. The accelerated pace of modern life, fierce competition and rapid changes have brought people a lot of confusion and anxiety. In fact, it is normal for people to have all kinds of emotions and confusion. What matters is what attitude to face. Most people's anxiety stems from the conflict between desire and reality, and whether it can be solved in time is often only between thoughts. When a person's psychology is really mature and his personality is perfect, he can reasonably adjust the conflict between desire and reality, see hope from setbacks and hardships, so as to make his mind calm and treat his abilities and wishes correctly. It is important that you respect yourself no matter what others say. Confucius studied in Germany all his life, and it was not until he was seventy that he could do whatever he wanted without overstepping the bounds. It can be seen that it is actually very difficult to start from what you want and not exceed the rules. From the perspective of goodness, what really comes from the heart should be both truth, goodness and beauty, and of course it should also conform to the norms formed by human society.

Application example:

On his eightieth birthday, Mr. Hu Sheng wrote the poem "Eighty Years" and a poem commemorating his life.

The poem "80th Anniversary" says: "Born in troubled times, you are generous, old and prosperous. Destiny is hard to know, dust is changeable, and you dare to seek truth. " Zi Ming Shou: "Be determined to learn five out of ten, stand at thirty, and be confused at forty. Confused, hung up for 30 years. In 70 or 80 years, I know my destiny roughly. " Compared with reading poems and inscriptions, I feel quite emotional. Confucius said that he "stood at thirty, puzzled at forty, and knew his destiny at fifty", while Hu Sheng said that he "knew his destiny at seventy-eight" and "puzzled and puzzled" for thirty years. These 30 years, in Hu Sheng's own words, are roughly "from the late 1950s to the late 1980s", that is, the period from 1957 to 1987. The Analects of Confucius for politics, the original text:

Confucius said, "Nine times out of ten, I am determined to learn, standing at 30, not confused at 40, knowing my destiny at 50, obeying at 60, and not overstepping at 70."

The translation is as follows:

Confucius said, I started studying at the age of fifteen, and I can stand on my own feet at the age of thirty. I'm 40 years old, and I'm not confused. At the age of 50, I understood what fate was. At the age of 60, I can listen to different opinions. At the age of 70, I can't do whatever I want, and I haven't crossed the line.