虚岁

Traditional form:

虛歲

Pinyin (reading):

xūsuì

Definitions:

• one's age, according to the traditional Chinese method of reckoning (i.e. the number of Chinese calendar years in which one has lived) – In this system, a person's age at birth is one, and increases by one at the beginning of the first solar term 立春 ( Lìchūn) each year, rather than on one's birthday.
• contrasted with 實歲／实岁 (shísuì)

Characters:

• 虚 - false; worthless, hollow, empty; vain
• 岁 - year; years old, age; harvest

Traditional characters:

• 虛 - false; worthless, hollow, empty; vain
• 歲 - year; years old, age; harvest