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Our daily lives are involved with numbers’ beliefs. For example, a mobile phone number that is believed to make the owner rich, the number of license plates that will enhance the driver’s luck or the date that is auspicious to open the business. The belief of numbers is together with society for a long time in every country. China is one of those countries which believe in auspicious numbers very much. What are the auspicious numbers in Chinese belief? Let’s find out with ACU PAY!
It’s the combination of Yin and Yang, two opposite things that balance each other. Chinese people believe that luck comes in pairs. Therefore, number 2 is often used to be the number of decorations in weddings such as a pair of pillows, rings and candles which refer to luck and happiness of newlyweds.
Its pronunciation is “liù” which is a homophone of peacefulness in Chinese. The number 6 is suitable for business because it will bring luck and wealth to the business owner. Especially 666 which pronounce “liù-liù-liù” refer to peacefulness and also have the pronunciation like “niú-niú-niú” that means awesome or cool. It is usually used in the online world. It is a slang term for Chinense gamers to praise people who are good at gaming.
The number 8 is the most auspicious number in Chinese belief. The number 8 or ‘bā’ is pronounced the same as ‘fa’ in Cantonese, which means good luck. Number 8 also means prosperity, success, and wealth. For business people, the number 8 is a big catch for putting in house numbers, phone numbers, and license plates. For example, at the 2008 Olympics in China which began to take place on the 8th of the 8th month of 2008 at 8:08:08 local time in Beijing.
The number 9 means prosperity, and it is a homophone to the words long and immortal in Chinese which represents long life. Like in the Chinese series which likes to wish the emperor a long life of tens of thousands of years and prefers to bless the couple to have long love by giving 99 roses. In addition, the number 9 or the amount of 9 is frequently used about the emperor, such as on the palace walls. If there is a dragon carved (which symbolizes the emperor), there must be 9 dragons, and in the Forbidden Palace, there are a total of 9,999 rooms.
When there is an auspicious number, there must be a not auspicious number as well. Which numbers are not auspicious in Chinese beliefs? Let’s see.
Since it has the same pronunciation as ‘sì’ which means death, Chinese people avoid using it in auspicious events. For example, phone numbers are not popular with 4 because they tell anyone their phone number, there must be a death word, which is not auspicious.
The word ‘wǔ’ is a homophone of the word nothing left, so it is not very popular, either.
The Chinese word ‘qī’, Chinese people believe that the 7th month, or July is the month when ghosts are released from hell to the human world. However, it is also a Chinese Valentine’s Day on the 7th of the 7th month, called 七夕节(qīxī jié) or Qixi Festival, which has a love story about a young cowman and a weaver girl.
It is read as ‘shí sān’ In Chinese belief the number 13 is from 1+3 = 4, which is not good. At the same time, this number in the West is also considered a prohibited number.
It can be read as ‘shí sì’ and number 1 in Chinese can be pronounced in two pronunciations: ‘yī’ or ‘yao’. When 14 numbers are pronounced, it can be read as ‘yao sì’, which is similar to the word ‘yao sì’, which means don’t stay.
