Download Culture of numbers

Culture of numbers
8
• The word for “eight” (八 Pinyin: bā)
sounds similar to the word which
means “prosper” or “wealth” (发 –
short for “发财", Pinyin: fā). In
regional dialects the words for
"eight" and "fortune" are also
similar, e.g. Cantonese "baat3" and
"faat3".
• The number 8 is viewed as such an auspicious
number that even being assigned a number
with several eights is considered very lucky.
• A telephone number with all digits being eights
was sold for USD$270,723 in Chengdu, China.
• The opening ceremony of the Summer Olympics
in Beijing began on 8/8/08 at 8 seconds and 8
minutes past 8 pm local time (UTC+08).[2]
• A man in Hangzhou offered to sell his license
plate reading A88888 for RMB 1.12 million
(roughly USD164,000).[2]
Singapore Airlines reserves flight numbers
beginning with the number 8 to routes in
China and Korea.
In Singapore, a breeder of rare Dragon fish
(Asian Arowana) (which are "lucky fish" and
being a rare species, are required to be
microchipped), makes sure to use numbers
with plenty of eights in their microchip tag
numbers, and appears to reserve particular
numbers especially rich in eights and sixes
(e.g. 702088880006688) for particularly
valuable specimens.[3][4]
• There is also a visual resemblance between two digits,
"88", and 囍, the "shuāng xĭ" ('double joy'), a popular
decorative design composed of two stylized characters
喜 ("xĭ" meaning 'joy' or 'happiness').
• The Petronas Twin Towers in Malaysia each have 88
Floors.
• The Air Canada route from Shanghai to Toronto is Flight
AC88.
• The KLM route from Hong Kong to Amsterdam is Flight
KL888.
• The United Airlines route from San Francisco to Beijing
is Flight UA888.
• The Air Astana route from Beijing to Almaty is Flight
KC888.
• An "auspicious" numbering system was
adopted by the developers of 39 Conduit Road
Hong Kong, where the top floor was "88" –
Chinese for double fortune. the floor number
which follows 68 is 88.[
• As part of grand opening promotions, a
Commerce Bank branch in New York's
Chinatown raffled off safety deposit box No.
888.
• The switchboard telephone number of the Swiss
investment bank Credit Suisse in London is +44
(0)207 8888888, where 44 is the country code
for the UK and 0207 is the city code for central
London. Credit Suisse has been rapidly
expanding its business in investment banking,
private wealth and other financial services in
Asia in recent years.
9 九
• The number 9 (九, Pinyin: jiŭ, jyutping: gau2), was
historically associated with the Emperor of China,
and the number was frequently used in matters
relating to the Emperor, before the establishment
of the the imperial examinations officials were
organized in the nine-rank system, the nine
bestowments were rewards the Emperor made for
officials of extraordinary capacity and loyalty,
while the nine familial exterminations was one of
the harshest punishments the Emperor sentenced;
the Emperor's robes often had nine dragons, and
Chinese mythology held that the dragon has nine
children. It also symbolizes harmony.
• Moreover, the number 9 is a homophone of
the word for "longlasting" (久), and as such is
often used in weddings.
• Some Chinese today believe that nine is lucky
(or believed by others to be lucky) because it
is the largest single-digit (Arabic) number.
However, this does not derive from any
Chinese tradition, as the largest single-digit
Chinese number is ten (十).
6六
• The number 6 (六, Pinyin: liù) in Mandarin is
pronounced the same as "liu" (溜, Pinyin: liù)
and similar to "fluid" (流, Pinyin: liú) and is
therefore considered good for business. The
number 6 also represents happiness. In
Cantonese, this number is a homophone for
blessings (祿 Lok). In I-Ching, the number 6
stands for "yin".
Unlucky numbers
4四
• Number 4 (四; accounting 肆; pinyin sì) is
considered an unlucky number in Chinese
because it is nearly homophonous to the word
"death" (死 pinyin sǐ). Due to that, many
numbered product lines skip the "4":
• Number 14 is considered to be one of the
unluckiest numbers.
• Although 14 is usually said in Mandarin as 十
四 "shí sì," which sounds like 十死 "ten die", it
can also be said as 一四 "yī sì" or 么四 "yāo
sì", literally "one four". Thus, 14 can also be
said as "yāo sì," literally "one four," but it also
sounds like "want to die" (要死 pinyin yào sǐ).
• In Cantonese, 14 sounds like "sap6 sei3", which
sounds like "sat6 sei2" meaning "certainly die"
(實死). It is already common in Hong Kong for
~4th floors not to exist; there is no
requirement by the Buildings Department for
numbering other than that it being "made in a
logical order."[5] A total of 43 intermediate
floor numbers are omitted from 39 Conduit
Road: those missing include 14, 24, 34, 54, 64,
all floors between 40 and 49;
• Not all Chinese people consider it to be an
unlucky number as the pronunciation differs
among the various dialects. In Chiu Chow, 4 is
pronounced as "see" or "yes". It is seen to be
a lucky number because Chinese people like
things in pairs (four would equal two pairs).
combination
•
•
•
•
168 "一六八"means "fortune all the way”.
520 means I love you.
1314 means the whole life time.
5201314 ….
• In Mandarin, 250 can mean "imbecile" if read
in a certain way. 二百五 (èr bǎi wǔ), while
literally being a correct way of reading 250 in
informal speaking, is usually used to insult
someone the speaker considers extremely
foolish.