一孔录子曰：吾十有五而志于学，三十而立，四十而不惑，五十而知天命，六十而耳顺，七十而从心所欲，不逾矩。The Master said: At fifteen I set my heart on learning; at thirty I stood firm; at forty I had no doubts; at fifty I knew the decree of Heaven; at sixty my ear was attuned; at seventy I could follow my heart's desire without overstepping the line.
常The common reading
A life timetable arranged by age.
注Key words in the commentary
“心之所之谓之志” — zhi (resolve) is where the heart goes; “于事物之所当然，皆无所疑” — no doubt about what things ought to be (no doubts); “天命……事物所以当然之故” — Heaven's decree is the reason why things ought to be so; “矩，法度之器” — ju is the carpenter's square, the instrument of measure.
家What other commentators say
Cheng Yi: “圣人未必然，但为学者立法，使之盈科而后进” — the sage was not necessarily like this himself; he sets out a rule for learners, so that they fill each hollow before moving on; Zhu Xi's own note: “因其近似以自名” — he named the stages by what they resembled.
读How Yikonglu reads it
Not a certificate issued automatically at a certain age, but a road of learning.
核Check every citation
Every commentary line quoted in the video: the original wording, who said it, and the page in the base edition. “Paraphrase” marks our summary, not the commentator's words.
| Quoted text | Source | Page |
|---|---|---|
| “古者十五而入大学；心之所之谓之志；有以自立，则守之固而无所事志矣；于事物之所当然，皆无所疑” | Zhu Xi's commentary | page 25 |
| “天命，即天道之流行而赋于物者，乃事物所以当然之故也；声入心通，无所违逆” | Zhu Xi's commentary | page 25 |
| “矩，法度之器，所以为方者也；安而行之，不勉而中也” | Zhu Xi's commentary | page 26 |
| “孔子生而知之也，言亦由学而至，所以勉进后人也” | Cheng Yi, quoted by Zhu Xi | page 26 |
| “孔子自言其进德之序如此者，圣人未必然，但为学者立法，使之盈科而后进，成章而后达耳” | Cheng Yi, quoted by Zhu Xi | page 26 |
| “愚谓圣人生知安行，固无积累之渐，然其心未尝自谓已至此也。是其日用之间，必有独觉其进而人不及知者。故因其近似以自名，欲学者以是为则而自勉” | 朱熹“愚谓”（前后转述） | page 26 |
音Pronunciation
| Character | In the line | Read as |
|---|---|---|
| 有 | 十有五 | yòu |
页Pages of the base edition
Yikonglu, Analects Wei zheng (Book 2) 2.4 “At fifteen I set my heart on learning”, https://yikonglu.com/en/lunyu/wei-zheng/4.html, version 2026-11-03.Last checked: 2026-11-03. Changes are logged on theerrata page.
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