Why are "seventy-three" and "eighty-four" two hurdles for the elderly?

There are two sayings, 73 and 83 years old are two hurdles for the elderly. 1 is more mythical and handed down by the ancients. According to the time of death of saints at that time, that is, the time of death of Confucius and Laozi, Confucius lived to be 73 years old and Laozi lived to be 84 years old, as a standard to measure the upper limit of human life in this world. Because of the feudal superstition of ancient people, it is believed that people who often do good deeds and accumulate virtue can prolong their lives, and their age is directly related to their personal virtue.

This thought was very common and even deeply rooted in the society at that time. Even today, some people still believe this feudal saying, so ancient people lived to 70 years old, which is called ancient rarity. How long this person can live after 70 years old depends on how many blessings this person has accumulated. This much longer life is also called longevity.

At that time, people thought that since Confucius and Laozi, known as saints, lived to the age of 73 and 84 respectively, normal people could only live to their age. Another view is based on China's traditional medical theory, because from the perspective of ancient medicine in China, human life cycle has certain regularity, and there are differences between men and women. From the perspective of Chinese medicine, there is a calculation method of "8 men and 7 women".

73 years old is only the beginning of the male cycle, and 84 years old is the end of the female cycle. So according to this statement, it just means that it is difficult for boys to live to 73, while it is difficult for women to live to 84. At the age of 73 or 84, the mortality rate at this age is very high because it has entered the last stage of its life cycle. However, with the development of science and the progress of medical technology, people's average life expectancy has been increasing, and there are many centenarians in today's society.