Why are the Chinese so attracted to numbers? Do they hold the key to ancient secrets or are they merely an odd fixation?

The Chinese believe that some numbers are lucky and some aren’t, as do their counterparts throughout the world.
The difference is that lucky numbers are a big industry in China where people can actually select their own phone numbers, license plates, and other random things, which is an expensive, as well as lucky, purchase.
In China, numbers are often integrated with sounds and have associative meanings. For example, the number eight is considered the luckiest number of all because it is pronounced “ba” which sounds like “fa”, the Chinese word for prosperity.
House numbers and telephone numbers containing the number eight are extremely sought after, and it is no coincidence that the Beijing Olympics began on 08/08/2008 at 8pm.
Conversely, the number four is considered bad luck because it is pronounced “si” which is similar to the Chinese word for death.
When ordering dishes in a Chinese restaurant, the courses are usually even-numbered, such as four, six, eight, etc. It is also customary if a guest visits a home bearing a gift of fruit the number will be even.
When buying apartments in China, those that are on even numbered floors are always the first to sell out. The fourth floor, on the other hand, is usually the cheapest, and usually foreigners, oblivious to the number’s connotations, occupy it.
The number six is considered very lucky, because the pronunciation sounds like the word for “flow”, suggesting that everything will go very smoothly.
The car license plate “AC6688″ recently sold for 80,000Y ($11,700 US dollars).
The number two is lucky as well, because it suggests harmonious existence and reproduction.
Some odd numbers are also considered favorable. Five is very significant because it relates to the five elements of Feng Shui (metal, wood, water, fire and earth), the five basic colors (red, green, yellow, black and white) and the five tastes (sweet, sour, salty bitter and pungent).
The number one is favored by young lovers and is exemplified in the Chinese idiom, “one heart and one soul.” A man will usually send one flower to his beloved to express undivided love or he may send nine (jiu), which is a homonym for the word denoting forever.
The number seven has experienced a bit of a renaissance as it was traditionally associated with anger. In recent years it has become more acceptable as it sounds a little bit like the words for “wife” or “family”.
What’s in a number?
Who can say, but do YOU dare to find out?
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That means in Asia the Devil’s number is very very lucky. 666 means flow, flow, flow.
That’s a very stupid interpretation on your side, redneck.
80 000 CNY is about 11 000 USD
I was told that 14 means “going to die.”
It sounds like the characters for “going to die” in Cantonese, but in this case, a direct translation would be “definitely going to die”.
or “want to die”, you could take it either way really.
but either way you read it, tis still bad news ^_^
13 - going to live
14 - going to die
520 - i love you
1748 - lets go die together <-they kiss again Ariel Lin exam number!
X_X,,,,, nvm
I’m local China guy, almost all things in this article is right except the figure 4 and 8.
In traditional saying, only 6 and 10 is very nice figure for people, 6 stand for success, and 10 stand for perfect–all in good in full.
but 4 and 8 is meaningful in nearly 20 years which come from Cantonese. you can not find 4 for death and 8 for prosperity on 20 years ago in China culture.
but the number four does sound like death in cantonese.
also, interesting post. What IS with chinese people and numbers? lol
To people wondering what is with the Chinese peoples’ obsession with numbers, it’s because China’s cultural history of fortune telling and such has often lied in numerology. It’s sort of like how in Western culture, we have those little superstitions like don’t walk under a latter, don’t break a mirror, black cats are bad luck, etc. It’s just that in Western culture, we don’t really care about luck as much as the Chinese and many Asian cultures in general.
haha. those crazy chinese
Thank you all for your comments.
They are all very interesting.
Good article!, Also in cantonese, 5 sounds like “won’t”, so you don’t want to mix 5 with good numbers like 8. eg. 58 - won’t get rich
er……actually 5 means ‘I’. it is a very good thing to connect 5 and other good numbers. e.g. 518 means i will get rich. of course, when you connect 5 with bad numbers; it is bad. such as 514 means that i am going to die.
are you talking about mandarin? (although 5 doesn’t sound that close to ‘I’ in mandarin either). 5 is definitely not ‘I’ in cantonese.