Chinese Number Superstitions - Basics

In the West, we are apparently scared of the number 13. And some people would consider seven a good number, probably because of lucky triple 7's at casino's. However, we don't really have universally agreed upon lucky number, rather individuals decide their own, unique lucky number(s). Mine is 23. More on that later.

In China, there are generally agreed upon good numbers, and bad numbers. First, the bad ones.

Some Western superstition has made its way here, in the form of 13. Many buildings will skip the 13th floor. But that's only occasional, and not deeple engrained in the general consciousness of the people I encounter.

The real bad one is 4.

In Chinese, the word four is very similar to the word for death. How does this manifest itself then? At weddings, money-gifts (yes, they only give money at Chinese weddings, so much more useful than a cheese-fondue kit), the value should never contain a 4. Also, the fourth floor is skipped in many buildings. But it goes deeper. Any floor with a four is skipped (eg. 4, 14, 24, 34, 40-49 etc.). So you could be on a floor labeled 60 and really it's the 44th floor above ground level, the worst ever. I try to educate people I know about this phenomenon, but they are certain that it is simply the 'number' four that causes problems. So why then is 'four' hundred yuan bills a problem? It's all very convoluted, as superstitions usually are.

Then there are some good numbers, many actually: 6, 8 and 9. If you consider that there are only 9 base numbers (0 doesn't really count), this is a pretty staggering proportion. Each has its own 'type' of fortune.

I'll begin with 6. In China, a series of 6's is quite good. The number of the beast, 666, is not connected to anything demonic whatsoever in Chinese culture, but rather "smooth transaction". The Chinese expression for this is "liu liu da shun" meaning "six six big smooth" in direct translation, or a more idiomatic translation would be 'six for smooth sailing'.

In Canada I could not imagine an ad with a '6' being purposely placed in a row of three in a major subway station, where I snapped this.

All-6 plates are quite common. This plate is actually a police car, but you can bet that the particular officer didn't get this by chance.

Eight is all about the cash. The expression goes "ba ba fa cai," meaning "eight eight get rich". As such, if you can afford it or have connections in the government, a typical Chinese aristocrat will have a licence plate loaded with 8's.

Here is a compilation of '8-plates' I found online by searching in Chinese "good licence plates." It is generally understood that to get these you have to have serious cash or government connections.

Nine is for longevity. "Chang chang jiu jiu" means "long long nine nine." Nine, pronounced 'jiu' in Chinese, sounds the same as another word pronounced 'jiu' which means "long time." So if you want a long life, you horde the nines.

A compilation of '9-plates' I found online, again just searching "好车牌" -> good car plates. Nines are not as common as eights.

And to completely contradict what I said earlier about 4, it also has fortune attached to it as well. Yes, it may be death under certain circumstances, but it can also represent wishes coming true. The expression goes "si si ru yi" and translates to "four four dreams come true." I guess Chinese people dream of death.

Clearly this guy didn't spend the dough on an H2 to be screwed by an ultimate death plate.

Finally, I'd just like to say that my favourite number being 23 has nothing to do with Michael Jordan, or the movie, but rather something I have preserved since young childhood. My address being 23 Clarendon Ave. in Ottawa probably got it all started. But it really kicked in when I realized (as in the movie 23) that 23 is everywhere. Seriously. Next time you're watching a random movie pay attention to the table number as characters are eating or the price, 23 makes it in there. And I'm not talking about decomposing numbers and adding them again, because you can make up any number theory doing that. As well, 23 is a prime number, and the largest multiple which fits into 69.