This English version was translated from the Chinese original with AI assistance. The Chinese text is authoritative.
Generally speaking, asking someone’s age directly is not a very polite or civil habit. Ancient Chinese has terms for different ages rich in cultural meaning, which avoid giving offense while still conveying the basic facts.
So how did the ancients refer to age?
Some of these terms can still be heard today, but others are known to very few people.
Infancy
度 (dù): the moment a child is first born.
汤饼之期 (tāngbǐng zhī qī, “the time of soup noodles”): three days after a baby’s birth.
赤子 (chìzǐ, “red child”), 襁褓 (qiǎngbǎo, “swaddling clothes”): a baby under one year old.
牙牙 (yáyá): an onomatopoeic word for the sound of a baby learning to speak; refers to age 1.
孩提 (háití): a small child still in swaddling clothes who has just learned to laugh; refers to children of 2 to 3.
始龀 (shǐ chèn, “beginning to shed teeth”): boys of 8, girls of 7. According to physiology, boys at 8 and girls at 7 change their teeth, losing their milk teeth and growing permanent ones; this is called 龀 (chèn), 龆年 (tiáonián) or 髫年 (tiáonián).
总角 (zǒngjiǎo, “gathered tufts”): youngsters from eight or nine to thirteen or fourteen.
九龄 (jiǔlíng): age 9.
指数之年 (zhǐshù zhī nián, “the age of counting on the fingers”): age 9.
黄口 (huángkǒu, “yellow mouth”): under 10.
幼学 (yòuxué, “young learning”): age 10. The “Quli I” chapter of the Book of Rites (Liji): “A person of ten years is said to be in young learning.”
外傅之年 (wàifù zhī nián, “the age of an outside tutor”): a child of 10.
Youth
金钗之年 (jīnchāi zhī nián, “the age of the golden hairpin”): a girl of 12.
豆蔻 (dòukòu, cardamom): a girl from thirteen or fourteen to fifteen or sixteen (cardamom is a plant that flowers in early summer; early summer is not yet high summer, a metaphor for someone not yet grown up, so the years before adulthood are called “the cardamom years”).
舞夕之年 (wǔ xī zhī nián, “the age of the dance”): youngsters from 13 to 15.
及笄 (jíjī, “reaching the hairpin”): a girl of 15.
志学之年 (zhìxué zhī nián, “the age of setting one’s mind on learning”): Confucius said, “At fifteen I set my mind on learning.”
Young adulthood
成童 (chéngtóng, “grown child”): age 15 or a little over.
舞象之年 (wǔ xiàng zhī nián, “the age of the elephant dance”): youths from 15 to 20.
二八 (èr bā, “two eights”): age 16.
破瓜 (pòguā, “splitting the melon”), 碧玉年华 (bìyù niánhuá, “jade years”): a girl of 16.
加冠 (jiāguān, “capping”): a man of 20. In ancient times men held the capping ceremony at 20 to show they had come of age.
弱冠 (ruòguàn, “weak capping”): the ancients held the capping ceremony at 20 to mark adulthood, but the body was not yet fully strong, hence “weak capping.”
桃李年华 (táolǐ niánhuá, “peach and plum years”): a woman of 20.
花信年华 (huāxìn niánhuá, “flower-season years”): a woman of 24.
而立 (érlì, 而立之年 “the age of standing firm”): age 30, because the Analects says: “At thirty I stood firm; at forty I had no doubts.”
始室 (shǐshì, “beginning a household”): age 30. The “Neize” chapter of the Book of Rites: “At thirty he has a household and begins to manage a man’s affairs.”
克壮 (kèzhuàng): in the prime of life; in ancient times 30 was considered the prime.
半老徐娘 (bànlǎo Xú niáng, “the half-aged Lady Xu”): a woman of 30. (This one is a bit much…)
Middle age
不惑 (bùhuò, 不惑之年 “the age without doubts”): 40 is “the age without doubts.”
艾 (ài): age 50. The “Quli I” chapter of the Book of Rites: “Fifty is called 艾.”
半百 (bànbǎi, “half a hundred”), 知天命 (zhī tiānmìng, “knowing the mandate of heaven”), 知命之年 (zhī mìng zhī nián): age 50.
六九年 (liù jiǔ nián, “six nines”): that is, age 54.
Old age
耳顺 (ěrshùn, “ears attuned”), 耳顺之年, 花甲之年 (huājiǎ zhī nián, “the age of a full sexagenary cycle”): all refer to age 60.
高龄 (gāolíng, “advanced age”): a respectful term for an elderly person’s age, mostly referring to over 60.
耆 (qí): in ancient times a person of 60 was called 耆.
下寿 (xiàshòu, “lower longevity”): the ancients regarded 60 as lower longevity, referring to over 60.
还历寿 (huánlì shòu, “returned-calendar birthday”): the 61st birthday.
从心之年 (cóngxīn zhī nián, “the age of following one’s heart”): age 70.
古稀 (gǔxī, “rare since antiquity”): in ancient times, living to 70 was no easy feat.
悬车之年 (xuánchē zhī nián, “the age of hanging up the carriage”), 杖围之年 (zhàng wéi zhī nián, “the age of the staff”): both refer to age 70.
耋 (dié): an age of seventy or eighty, generally meaning old age, as in 耄耋之年 (màodié zhī nián).
喜寿 (xǐshòu, “joy longevity”): age 77; the cursive form of 喜 looks like 七十七 (seventy-seven), so it specifically stands for 77.
朝枚之年 (cháo méi zhī nián), 朝枝之年 (cháo zhī zhī nián): both refer to eighty or ninety.
伞寿 (sǎnshòu, “umbrella longevity”): the 80th birthday. Because the cursive form of 伞 looks like 八十 (eighty), it is called “umbrella longevity.”
中寿 (zhōngshòu, “middle longevity”): over 80.
米寿 (mǐshòu, “rice longevity”): age 88. Because 米 taken apart looks like 八十八 (eighty-eight), it stands for 88.
上寿 (shàngshòu, “upper longevity”): 90 is upper longevity.
白寿 (báishòu, “white longevity”): age 99; 百 (hundred) minus one stroke gives 白, and a hundred minus one is 99, so it stands for 99.
期颐 (qīyí): a ripe old age of a hundred.
茶寿 (cháshòu, “tea longevity”): age 108. The top of 茶 is 廿 (twenty) and the bottom is 八十八 (eighty-eight); together they make 108.
双稀 (shuāngxī, “double rarity”), 双庆 (shuāngqìng, “double celebration”): age 140.
