童子六七人

tóngzǐ liù qī rén

quotation

Meanings

1 six or seven young boys
2 companion half to 冠者五六人 — Zeng Dian's ideal spring picnic in the Analects

Characters

(suffix: person)

Examples

老师一说"冠者五六人"，同学们马上接"童子六七人"。

Lǎoshī yī shuō " guànzhěwǔliùrén ", tóngxué men mǎshàng jiē " tóngzǐliùqīrén ".

The moment the teacher said 'five or six capped youths,' the students picked up 'six or seven young boys.'

春日郊游，童子六七人，正是《论语》里的画面。

Chūnrì jiāoyóu, tóngzǐliùqīrén, zhèngshì 《 Lúnyǔ 》 lǐ de huàmiàn.

A spring outing with six or seven young boys — the very scene from the Analects.

Tips

history

From 《论语·先进》, Zeng Dian's 'sitting in attendance' 侍坐 passage: '冠者五六人，童子六七人，浴乎沂，风乎舞雩，咏而归.' Confucius, hearing this humble ambition, sighs '吾与点也' — 'I'm with Dian.'

usage

Classical counting: 五六人 / 六七人 = 'five or six,' 'six or seven.' Still perfectly natural in modern Chinese.

Stroke Order

童 tóng

子 zǐ

六 liù

七 qī

人 rén