Grandpa is celebrating his seventieth birthday this year, truly, 'to reach seventy has always been rare.'
Tips
history
From Du Fu's 《曲江二首·其二》 (Tang dynasty): 酒债寻常行处有，人生七十古来稀. From this line came the honorific 古稀 - a euphemism for seventy years old, still used on birthday cards today.
culture
古稀之年 = 'the age of seventy', now almost always abbreviated as 古稀. For a seventieth birthday, a 古稀寿宴 is the traditional banquet.
