Forty is not confused means: when a person reaches the age of forty, he has experienced a lot, has his own judgment, is not confused by appearances, can understand the essence and truth of things, and can understand himself. The advantages and disadvantages mainly refer to value judgments, that is, judgments of right and wrong, good and evil, good and bad, beauty and ugliness. Source: "The Analects of Confucius·Wei Zheng".
The "Analects of Confucius·Wei Zheng" contains a self-statement of Confucius's life as a scholar and a virtue: "I am determined to learn at ten years old. At thirty years old, I will be established; at forty years ago, I will not be confused; at fifty years old, I will know the destiny of heaven; At sixty, my ears are attuned; at seventy, I follow my heart's desires without going beyond the rules."
Translation: "I am determined to study at the age of fifteen; I am able to stand on my own feet at the age of thirty; I am not deceived by external things at the age of forty. At the age of fifty, one understands the destiny; at the age of sixty, one can treat various opinions correctly without feeling uncomfortable; at the age of seventy, one can do as he pleases without going beyond the rules."
Extended information:
< p>The meaning of "Thirty-year-old":Thirty-year-old is a Chinese idiom whose pinyin is sān shí ér lì. The original meaning is that a person establishes his own stable values ??in life and the principles of doing things and being a human being around the age of thirty. For example, Confucius established rituals at the age of thirty. Modern times mostly refer to achievements.
This is Confucius's self-evaluation of the state of life he reached at the age of 30 in "The Analects of Confucius: For Politics". The original text is that Confucius said: "When I was fifteen, I was determined to learn; when I was thirty, I was established; when I was forty, I was not confused; when I was fifty, I knew the destiny; when I was sixty, my ears were obedient; when I was seventy, I followed my heart's desires and did not exceed the rules." Although not everyone is like this. Although one can be considered a Confucius sage, later generations often regard these self-comments of Confucius as the ideal state of life that should be achieved at different stages of life.