From Liu An's The Original Daoism of Huainanzi in the Western Han Dynasty: "If you are fifty years late, you have made mistakes for forty-nine years", which means that if you live to fifty years late, you feel that you have done something wrong in the first forty-nine years.
Excerpt from the original:
Ordinary people live to be 70 years old, but they regret it every day and even die. Therefore, Ji is fifty and forty-nine. who is it? The former is hard to know, while the latter is easy to attack. The former is high, while the latter climbs; If the first one exceeds, the latter will be gone; The former is a trap, the latter is a scheming; If the first person fails, the latter violates.
Translation:
The average life expectancy of ordinary people is 70 years old, but people regret themselves every day, even to death. So Wei Guoyu lived to be 50 years old and felt that he had done something wrong in the first 49 years. Why is this happening?
Because it is difficult for the pioneers to do it wisely, it is easy for the latecomers to achieve results; Pioneers climb high, and successors can follow. The forerunner is low-spanned, and the latecomers can catch up. The pioneer falls into a trap, and the successor can consider avoiding it. Pioneers suffer failures, and successors can avoid the same mistakes.
Extended data
The original Tao Xun is the first book of Huai Nan Zi. This paper discusses the basic characteristics, functions and general laws of development and change of Tao, and puts forward a series of viewpoints such as following the Tao, doing nothing, persisting in the future, peace, tranquility, rebirth and nourishment, which can be said to be the general outline of the book.
"Original" means speculation. "Tao" is the most fundamental and highest concept in Huai Nan Zi, but its basic meaning actually refers to the laws that must be followed in governing the country. In addition, "Tao" also refers to the most universal and fundamental regularity of the movement and development of all things in the universe (including nature and society).
"Tao", as a basic concept in China's philosophy, can be found everywhere in ancient literature, but it has different meanings in different times and should be treated differently.
Huainanzi, also known as Lie Hong in Huainan, is said to have been written by Liu An, the king of Huainan in the Western Han Dynasty, hence its name.
On the basis of inheriting the pre-Qin Taoist thought, this book integrates the essence of a hundred schools of thought and plays an irreplaceable role in the study of Qin and Han cultures in later generations. ? Ban Gu listed it as a "miscellaneous family" in the Records of Han Shu Literature and Art, and the General Catalogue of Sikuquanshu was also listed as a "miscellaneous family", belonging to the Ministry.
Based on the pre-Qin Taoist thought, this book combines Yin and Yang, Mohism, Legalism and some Confucianism, but its theme belongs to Taoism. "Red" means broad, while "fierce" means bright. The author thinks that this book contains as broad and bright a truth as Tao.
Liu An's father, Chang Lu, was the illegitimate son of Emperor Gaozu, and was named King of Huainan. As the eldest son, Liu An inherited his father's title, so he was also called the King of Huainan. Liu An's Huai Nan Zi aims at Liu Che, the Emperor of the Han Dynasty, and opposes his political reform.
The original book "Huai Nan Zi" has twenty-one volumes in the inner chapter, eight volumes in the middle chapter and thirty-three volumes in the outer chapter. So far, only the internal chapters have survived. Most of the published versions are published after the internal chapters are deleted.
Liang Qichao said: "Lie Hong in Huainan is a master of Taoism in the Western Han Dynasty. His book is profound and clear, and it is first-class in Han Chinese writings. " Hu Shi said: "Taoism is a great achievement of ancient thought, and Huainan Book is a great achievement of Taoism."
Baidu Encyclopedia-Huai Nan Zi Yuan Dao Xun