Zhou Youguang, a Chinese
linguist, passed away last month. English media reported he was 111, while Chinese
media reported he was 112. Which one is wrong?
Zhou was born on January
13, 1906, and died on January 14, 2017. In accordance with western practice,
age is the length of time that a person has lived. Zhou was 111 years and one
day old, shortened to 111 years old.
According to Chinese
custom, age is the number of years that a person has lived. No matter if he were
born on the first day or on the last day of a year, that year was his first
year. For example, if a man was born on the last day of a year then that is his
first year. And, the following day, New Year’s Day, is his second year. On New
Year’s Day, he is 2 years old, although he was only 2 days old. Of course, this
is an extreme case.
English focuses on
how old he was. Chinese focuses on how many years have passed since he was
born. In this respect, the number of English media is a cardinal number, and
the number of Chinese media is an ordinal number.
In the past, the Chinese
people have used the Chinese calendar. On Chinese New Year’s day, all Chinese people
are one year older. According to the Chinese calendar, the Year of the Rooster
began on January 28, 2017. If Zhou had died 2 weeks later, he would have been
113.
中国语言学家周友光上个月逝世。英文媒体报道他111岁，而中文媒体报道他112岁。谁的数字错了？
周有光生于1906年1月13日，2017年1月14日去世。按照西方的习惯，年龄是一个人活了多长时间。周有光活了111岁零1天，简称111岁。
根据中国的传统，年龄是一个人活了多少岁。无论他出生在一年的第一天还是最后一天，那一年他都是一岁。例如，一个人出生在一年的最后一天，这一天是他的第一年，他一岁。第二天是新年春节，这是他的第二年，他两岁。虽然他才两天，他已经两岁了。当然，这是最极端的情况。
英文专注于他活了多久。中文着眼于他出生后过了多少个年头。从这一点来看，英文媒体的数字是一个基数，中文媒体的数字是一个序数。
过去中国人使用中国农历。在农历新年这一天，所有中国人都长一岁。按照中国农历，鸡年的新年是2017年1月28日。如果周老两个星期后去世，他就113岁了。
