The titles and background of various age groups in ancient times

1. Pure child: a newborn baby.

Kong Yingda Shu: "The child is born red, so it is called an innocent child. (A child is born red, so it is called an innocent child.)

2. Swaddling clothes: also called "swaddling clothes" , "Qianbao", "baby".

The original meaning is the quilt and belt that wraps the baby. For example, "The Book of the Later Han Dynasty·Huan Yu Biography" says: "In the past, when King Cheng was young, he was still in Qingbao. "It means that King Cheng was still a baby in his infancy at that time, and later it was used to refer to a baby under one year old.

3. Child: refers to a child aged two or three.

"Mencius ·With all my heart”: “Children. "Zhao Qi's note: "Children, between the ages of two and three, can be picked up and hugged when they are still in their infancy. "Also known as "child hug". It means that a child of two or three years old can be made to laugh or be carried while still in swaddling clothes.

4. Qigong: refers to a child of seven or eight years old.

"Han Shi Gai Zhuan": "A male's teeth are born in August, and his teeth are crooked at the age of eight; a female's teeth are born in July, and her teeth are crooked at the age of seven. "It means that boys grow teeth in eight months and lose their teeth at the age of eight. Girls grow teeth in seven months and lose their teeth at the age of seven. Therefore, the word "Qiang" is used to refer to children aged seven or eight.

5. Chuipiao: refers to Children aged three to four to eight or nine.

In ancient times, the hair of boys was droopy, so the term "dropping hair" refers to childhood or children.

6. Preschool: 10 years old.

"Book of Rites·Qu Li 1": "The ten years of life are called childhood and learning. "Zheng Xuan's note: "It's called young, which means it's time to learn. "Later, the age of ten was called the "year of kindergarten". It means that you can start school.

7. General angle: refers to children between the ages of eighty-nine and twelve or thirteen years old.

"Book of Rites·Nei Principles": "Fushao, the general horn. "Zheng Xuan's note: "General angle, send and receive knots. "It means to put away the hair and tie it into knots. Later, it was called "Zongjiao" in childhood.

8. Cardamom: refers to a girl of thirteen or fourteen years old.

From Du Mu's "Gift" "Farewell": "Pingping curled up for more than thirteen years, and the cardamom sprouts were in early February. A graceful girl of thirteen or fourteen years old is the cardamom in early February. Cardamom is also a metaphor for a girl of thirteen or fourteen years old.

9. Hairpin: The woman is 15 years old.

"Book of Rites·Nei Principles": "A woman's hairpin is only fifteen years old." In ancient times, when a woman turned 15, her hair was tied with a hairpin, so a woman who turned 15 was called a hairpin. It also refers to reaching the age of marriage, such as "at the age of haircut".

10. Hair tied: The man is 15 years old.

In ancient times, when boys grew up, their hair was tied into a bun, which was considered a symbol of adulthood.

11. Pogua: 16-year-old woman.

In the old days, literati split the character "gua" into twenty-eight characters to mark the year, which means sixteen years old. It is mostly used for women in poetry.

12. Weak crown: man 20 years old.

"Book of Rites·Qu Li 1": "Twenty means weak, crown." In ancient times, men performed the crown ceremony when they were 20 years old, so it is used to refer to the age of men around 20 years old.

13. Standing tall: 30 years old; not confused: 40 years old; knowing destiny: 50 years old; ears smooth: 60 years old.

From "The Analects of Confucius·Wei Zheng" Confucius said: "When I was ten, I was determined to learn; when I was thirty, I stood up; at forty, I was not confused; at fifty, I knew the destiny; at sixty, I was obedient; at seventy, I was obedient to learning. Follow your heart's desires and do not go beyond the rules. "Therefore, standing means 30 years old; not confusing means 40 years old; knowing destiny means 50 years old; and hearing smoothly means 60 years old.

(I determined to study when I was fifteen. I was able to stand in the world according to the requirements of etiquette when I was thirty. I no longer felt confused when encountering things when I was forty. I knew what I couldn’t do for myself when I was fifty. He is happy to know the fate of things he controls. At the age of sixty, he can listen to various opinions. At the age of seventy, he can do whatever he wants without going beyond the rules. 14. Ancient Xi: 70 years old.

Du Fu's "Qujiang": "Liquor debts are commonplace, but life is rare in the past seventy years." This means that wine can be drunk at any time, but there are very few people over the age of 70, so later it was used as "ancient rare". A nickname for seventy years old.

15. Elderly: 70-80 years old.

Mao Zhuan: "苋, old. Eighty is called 苋." It means the age of seventy or eighty years old in ancient times, and generally refers to old age.

16. Old age: 80-90 years old.

"Book of Rites·Qu Lishang": "Eighty and ninety are called old people." Later generations also said that "seventy is called old people", so now it means about seventy to ninety years old. The ancient name for age describes old age, and by extension means confusion.

17. Qi Yi: 100 years old.

"Book of Rites·Qu Lishang": "A hundred years is called Qi, Yi." Qi means expectation, and Yi means support, which means that a centenarian cannot take care of himself for food and daily life, and needs to expect support or care from others. Qiyi generally refers to a hundred-year-old man

Extended information

The naming characteristics of age titles

The ancient people’s age titles have different sources, and most of them are based on the names of different ages. They are named according to their physical characteristics, but some have become fixed names based on what their predecessors said.

Among all the age titles, the title "ninety" is the most common and interesting. It is also called "fish back". Mackerel is a kind of fish, and the spots on its back are like the wrinkled skin of an old man. In old age, age spots appear on the skin like the skin of a frozen pear, so it is also called "frozen pear".

There are also names based on physiological characteristics. For example, newborns are called "babies" because newborns need to be held in front of the chest for feeding.

Ying can communicate with Ying, Ying is the chest. The baby is the one held in the chest.

In addition to being called "Mourning", the age of seven is also called "Gang" or "Destroyed Teeth". It is called this because it is the period when teeth are changing. Fifteen-year-olds are called "children", and "a mountain without grass or trees is called a child". In ancient times, adults reached adulthood at the age of sixteen. At the age of fifteen, men were not crowned with crowns, and women were not crowned with hairpins. The meaning used here is metaphorical.

Our country also has the tradition of counting the years according to the zodiac signs. Sixty years is a cycle, so there is also a saying that the age of sixty is the "year of sixtieth". There is a poem by Du Fu that says: "Drinking debts are commonplace, but seventy years of life are rare in ancient times." Therefore, seventy is also known as "the rare year in ancient times".

Of course, these are not the only ancient age titles. There are also many that are scattered in various ancient books and have not been handed down because they are rarely used. The above-mentioned ones have been used by future generations due to their high frequency of use and strong vitality. Some of them have also entered into our daily communication, such as: "Standing at thirty." For another example, from the words "baby" and "child", we can no longer see the difference between history and today.