Superstitious Numbers

A few days ago, I and some of my friends had to go and store some props for the upcoming Pasikatan on one of our friend’s condo. Her room was on the 30th floor so we had to take an elevator. While inside the elevator, we noticed that it lacked buttons having the number 4. One of us said that the number 4 symbolizes “death” in the Chinese culture. I then wondered how numbers were given such superstitious beliefs so I went on and read a few articles about the Chinese viewpoint on numbers.

                The Chinese culture consists a good number of lucky numbers. The number 2 is frequently considered as a lucky number among the Chinese. There is a Chinese saying that good things come in pairs that is why it is not uncommon to find Chinese names having 2 characters. The number 3 is also considered as a lucky number for it resembles the sound of the character for “birth”. The number 5 is also a lucky one simply because there are 5 Chinese elements – Fire, Water, Earth, Wood, and Metal. The number 6 is believed to be good in business. It is also known to symbolize “happiness” because it stands for yin. On the other hand, the number 7 symbolizes “togetherness” and thus, is believed to be a good number in terms of relationships. Aside from that, it also sounds like the Chinese character Pinyin which means “arise”. The number 8 is probably the most popular among the lucky numbers in this culture. It means “prosper” or “wealth” The number 88 represents “double joy”. It is believed that several eights are very lucky. This is probably why the Beijing Olympics started that 8/08/08 at 8pm (local time), 8 minutes, and 8 seconds. Another good example is that the Petronas Twin Towers have 88 floors and that most flights going to China have the numbers 888. The number 9 is also a lucky number for the Chinese. It resembles the word for “longlasting” and thus, is often used in marriages. Unlike other cultures, the Chinese believe that the number 13 is also a lucky number for it resembles the sound made for “definitely living”.

                Chinese also believe in having bad luck. As mentioned above 4 is said to be one. Notice that most if not all phones in China skip the number 4. Buildings also skip the numbers 4, 14, 24, 34, all numbers from 40 to 49, and so on and so forth. The number 14 is considered to be the unluckiest of all. In Chinese it is literally said as “one four” which sounds as “want to die” or “certainly die”. Aside from the numbers bearing “4”, there are also other ones considered unlucky. The number 5 is said to be one simply because it is associated with “not” which is a negative connotation although it could also be lucky at times such as the number 54 (which means “not die”). The number 6 which means “to fall” or “to drop” is said to be also unlucky especially in forming combinations. While some cultures treat the number 7 as a lucky number (for it is the God number), some Chinese people find it as a bad one. During the 7th month of the Chinese calendar, the Ghost festival is celebrated and it is believed that spirits are able to visit the living during this time.

                All-in-all, the luckiness of a number in the Chinese culture is usually based on the Chinese word it sounds like… I guess.