also: ろうしょうふじょう
uncertainty of life; death comes to old and young alike
A yojijukugo expressing the Buddhist idea that death does not follow a set order; the young may die before the old. Used in reflective or literary contexts.
The phrase 老少不定 expresses the impermanence of life.
彼は若くして亡くなったが、まさに老少不定だ。
He died young; it's truly a case of the uncertainty of life.
Also a Buddhist term about impermanence, but refers broadly to all things, not specifically to the unpredictability of death's timing.
A more general and common word for impermanence; 老少不定 is a specific yojijukugo focused on the uncertainty of lifespan.
Standard kanji form; the reading ろうしょうふじょう is a less common variant.
Variant reading; ろうしょうふてい is more common.
A yojijukugo derived from Buddhist teachings, combining 老 (old), 少 (young), 不 (not), and 定 (fixed), literally meaning 'old and young are not fixed', i.e., the order of death is unpredictable.