May Fourth at Seventy

人生七十古來稀

Lin Yutang observed that:

To live beyond seventy is to be called in Chinese ‘ancient-rare’, because of the Chinese line that ‘it is rare for man to live over seventy since the ancient times’.

Which invariably brings to mind that well-worn line in The Analects:

At seventy, I follow my heart’s desire without crossing the line.

Although, even in one’s seventieth year, ‘the line’ is not necessarily as fixed as some might believe. Anyway, as Cicero observed:

Advice in old age is foolish; for what can be more absurd than to increase our provisions for the road the nearer we approach to our journey’s end?

— Geremie R. Barmé
4 May 2024
古稀之年

***

人生七十古來少，前除幼年後除老。
中間光景不多時，又有炎霜與煩惱。
花前月下得高歌，急須滿把金樽倒。
世人錢多賺不盡，朝里官多做不了。
官大錢多心轉憂，落得自家頭白早。
春夏秋冬捻指間，鐘送黃昏雞報曉。
請君細點眼前人，一年一度埋芳草。
草里高低多少墳，一年一半無人掃。

— 唐伯虎

***

Painted by TK (Feng Zikai 豐子愷) in 1925