📖 Meaning
Refers to the age of seventy, when ancient Chinese officials would retire from public service and cease using their official carriages. The idiom evokes the image of hanging up one's vehicle for good, symbolizing the end of an official career and the beginning of a quiet life in retirement.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom originates from the ancient Chinese convention that officials should retire at seventy, a practice codified as the '悬车' (suspending the carriage) ritual. The phrase appears in '归田琐记·七十致仕' (Miscellaneous Notes on Returning to the Fields) by Liang Zhangju of the Qing dynasty, who argued that if one entered officialdom before forty, the retirement age need not be strictly seventy. Liang himself noted that he twice retired before reaching the 'age of suspending the carriage,' demonstrating the idiom's use as a cultural benchmark for retirement.
💡 Example Usage
祖父已至悬车之岁，仍每日读书不辍。
Although my grandfather has reached the age of seventy, he still reads every day without pause.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 悬车之岁
- Pinyin: xuán chē zhī suì
- Literal Translation: hang up, carriage, of, age
- Category: Status
- Characters: 4