從心所欲

Chinese

		from; obey; observe from; obey; observe; follow; second cousin; lax; yielding; unhurried	heart; mind	actually; place; (nominalization prefix)	desire; longing; appetite desire; longing; appetite; wish
trad. (從心所欲)		從	心	所	欲
simp. (从心所欲)		从	心	所	欲

Etymology

From the Analects, Book 2 (《論語·爲政》):

子曰：「吾十有五而志于學，三十而立，四十而不惑，五十而知天命，六十而耳順，七十而從心所欲，不踰矩。」 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

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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。」 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: The Analects of Confucius, c. 475 – 221 BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

Zǐyuē: “Wú shí yòu wǔ ér zhì yú xué, sānshí ér lì, sìshí ér bùhuò, wǔshí ér zhī tiānmìng, liùshí ér ěr shùn, qīshí ér cóng xīn suǒ yù, bù yújǔ.” [Pinyin]

The Master said, "At fifteen, I had my mind bent on learning. At thirty, I stood firm. At forty, I had no doubts. At fifty, I knew the decrees of Heaven. At sixty, my ear was an obedient organ for the reception of truth. At seventy, I could follow what my heart desired, without transgressing what was right.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): cóngxīnsuǒyù

  (Zhuyin): ㄘㄨㄥˊ ㄒㄧㄣ ㄙㄨㄛˇ ㄩˋ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): cung⁴ sam¹ so² juk⁶

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: cóngxīnsuǒyù
    • Zhuyin: ㄘㄨㄥˊ ㄒㄧㄣ ㄙㄨㄛˇ ㄩˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: cóngsinsuǒyù
    • Wade–Giles: tsʻung²-hsin¹-so³-yü⁴
    • Yale: tsúng-syīn-swǒ-yù
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: tsorngshinsuooyuh
    • Palladius: цунсиньсоюй (cunsinʹsojuj)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sʰʊŋ³⁵ ɕin⁵⁵ su̯ɔ²¹⁴⁻²¹ y⁵¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: cung⁴ sam¹ so² juk⁶
    • Yale: chùhng sām só yuhk
    • Cantonese Pinyin: tsung⁴ sam¹ so² juk⁹
    • Guangdong Romanization: cung⁴ sem¹ so² yug⁶
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sʰʊŋ²¹ sɐm⁵⁵ sɔː³⁵ jʊk̚²/

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• Middle Chinese: dzjowng sim srjoX yowk

Rime
Character	從	心	所	欲
Reading #	1/3	1/1	1/1	1/1
Initial (聲)	從 (15)	心 (16)	生 (21)	以 (36)
Final (韻)	鍾 (7)	侵 (139)	魚 (22)	鍾 (8)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)	Level (Ø)	Rising (X)	Checked (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open	Open	Open	Open
Division (等)	III	III	III	III
Fanqie	疾容切	息林切	踈舉切	余蜀切
Baxter	dzjowng	sim	srjoX	yowk
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/d͡zɨoŋ/	/siɪm/	/ʃɨʌX/	/jɨok̚/
Pan Wuyun	/d͡zioŋ/	/sim/	/ʃiɔX/	/jiok̚/
Shao Rongfen	/d͡zioŋ/	/sjem/	/ʃiɔX/	/iok̚/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/d͡zuawŋ/	/sim/	/ʂɨə̆X/	/juawk̚/
Li Rong	/d͡zioŋ/	/siəm/	/ʃiɔX/	/iok̚/
Wang Li	/d͡zĭwoŋ/	/sĭĕm/	/ʃĭoX/	/jĭwok̚/
Bernard Karlgren	/d͡zʱi̯woŋ/	/si̯əm/	/ʂi̯woX/	/i̯wok̚/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	cóng	xīn	shǔ	yù
Expected Cantonese Reflex	cung4	sam1	so2	juk6

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*[dz]oŋ  səm

  (Zhengzhang): /*zloŋ  slɯm  sqʰraʔ  loɡ/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	從	心
Reading #	1/3	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	cóng	xīn
Middle Chinese	‹ dzjowng ›	‹ sim ›
Old Chinese	/*[dz]oŋ/	/*səm/
English	to follow	heart
Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter–Sagart system: * Parentheses "()" indicate uncertain presence; * Square brackets "[]" indicate uncertain identity, e.g. *[t] as coda may in fact be *-t or *-p; * Angle brackets "<>" indicate infix; * Hyphen "-" indicates morpheme boundary; * Period "." indicates syllable boundary.

Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character	從	心	所	欲
Reading #	2/3	1/1	1/1	1/1
No.	1858	13801	5306	4303
Phonetic component	从	心	戸	谷
Rime group	東	侵	魚	屋
Rime subdivision	0	1	0	0
Corresponding MC rime	從	心	所	欲
Old Chinese	/*zloŋ/	/*slɯm/	/*sqʰraʔ/	/*loɡ/

Idiom

從心所欲

1. to follow what one's heart desires; to do as one likes; to act at one's pleasure
2. (literary) seventy years old

Synonyms

• (to do as one likes): 隨心所欲／随心所欲 (suíxīnsuǒyù)
• (seventy years old): 從心／从心