三十而立

Pronunciation: sān shí ér lì Literal meaning: At thirty, established

Origin & Usage

Confucius sets out his life in stages in the Analects: 吾十有五而志于学，三十而立，四十而不惑，五十而知天命 — at fifteen bent on learning, at thirty (三十) standing (立), at forty free of doubt, at fifty knowing what heaven decreed. 立 is standing on one's own feet: a settled position, an occupation, a household. The sequence is well enough known in Chinese that naming one stage invokes the rest, and 三十而立 now carries a weight of expectation about careers and marriage that Confucius did not put there.

Examples

English: "By the age of thirty, he finally established his career and personal identity."

Chinese: 到三十岁时，他终于确立了自己的事业和个人身份。