Definition

1. Noun (Literary, Archaic):
   • The Old Heaven / The Aged Sky: A personification of the Creator or Fate, used in classical Vietnamese literature to express a sense of blame, grievance, or resignation towards an unfeeling or inexorable higher power that controls human destiny.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • Tức gan riêng giận trời già. (My heart burns with private anger at the Old Heaven.)
  • Trách trời già sao nỡ để lòng người đau khổ. (Blaming the Aged Sky for why it would let human hearts suffer.)

Advanced Usage

• This term is almost exclusively found in poetic and classical literary contexts, particularly in works like . It conveys a tone of lamentation and powerlessness against a predetermined fate.

Variants and Related Words

• Ông trời (n): a more common, colloquial personification of the sky or heaven as a governing entity.
• Tạo hóa (n): the Creator, nature, the force of creation.
• Thiên mệnh (n): the Mandate of Heaven, destiny.

Synonyms

• The Creator: especially when viewed as stern or unyielding.
• Fate / Destiny: as a personified force.
• Providence: divine guidance, often inscrutable.

Related Idioms

• While "trời già" itself is a literary idiom, it is related to expressions of lamenting fate.
• Trách trời trách đất: to blame heaven and earth; to complain bitterly about one's fate.
  • Đau khổ quá, nó chỉ biết trách trời trách đất. (In such pain, he could only blame heaven and earth.)