中國的數(shù)字文化觀

NumbersinChinesecultureInChineseculture,certainnumbersarebelievedbysometobeauspicious(吉利)orinauspicious(不利)basedontheChinesewordthatthenumbernamesoundssimilarto.HoweversomeChinesepeopleregardthesebeliefstobesuperstitions.SincethepronunciationandthevocabularymaybedifferentindifferentChinesedialects,therulesaregenerallynotapplicableforallcases.Becauseofthesupposedauspiciousnessofcertainnumbers,somepeoplewilloftenchoose,attempttoobtain,orpaylargesumsfornumbersthatareconsideredtobeluckyfortheirphonenumbers,streetaddresses,residencefloor(inamulti-storybuilding),driver”slicensenumber,vehiclelicenseplatenumber,bankaccountnumber,etc.ContentsLuckiernumbersTwoThreeFiveSixSevenEightNineUnluckynumbersFourFiveSixSevenCombinations3SeealsoReferencesExternallinksLuckynumbersarebasedonChinesewordsContentsLuckiernumbersTwoThreeFiveSixSevenEightNineUnluckynumbersFourFiveSixSevenCombinations3SeealsoReferencesExternallinksLuckiernumbersTwoThenumber2(or兩,Pinyin:èrorli?ng)isagoodnumberinChineseculture.ThereisaChinesesaying“goodthingscomeinpairs“.Itiscommontousedoublesymbolsinproductbrandnames,e.g.doublehappiness,doublecoin,doubleelephantsetc.InCantonese,two(jyutping:yi6)isahomophoneofthecharacterfor“easy“(易).ThreeThenumber3(三,Pinyinsān,jyutpingsaam1)soundssimilartothecharacterfor“birth“(生,Pinyinshēng,jyutpingsaang1),andisthusconsideredaluckynumber.FiveThenumber5(五,Pinyin:w?)isassociatedwiththefiveelements(water,wood,fire,earthandmetal)inChinesephilosophy,andinturnwashistoricallyassociatedwiththeEmperorofChina.Forexample,theTiananmengate,beingthemainthoroughfaretotheForbiddenCity,hasfivearches.Itisalsoreferredtoasthepronoun“I“citationneed,asthepronunciationsof“I“我,Pinyinw?and5aresimilarinMandarin.SixThenumber6(六,Pinyin:liù)inMandarinispronouncedthesameas“l(fā)ee-oh“(澑,Pinyin:liù)andsimilarto“fluid“(流,Pinyin:liú)andisthereforeconsideredgoodforbusiness.Thenumber6alsorepresentshappiness.InCantonese,thisnumberisahomophoneforblessings(Lok〕SevenThenumber7(七,Pinyinqīsymbolizes“togetherness“.Itisaluckynumberforrelationships.ItisalsorecognizedastheluckiestnumberintheWest,andisoneoftherarenumbersthatisgreatinbothChineseandmanyWesterncultures.ItisaluckynumberinChineseculture,becauseitsoundsaliketotheChinesecharacter起(Pinyin:qi3)meaningarise.EightThewordfor“eight“(八Pinyin:bā)soundssimilartothewordwhichmeans“prosper“or“wealth“(發(fā)-shortfor“發(fā)財“,Pinyin:fā).Inregionaldialectsthewordsfor“eight“and“fortune“arealsosimilar,egCantonese“baat3“and“faat3“.Thereisalsoavisualresemblancebetweentwodigits,“88“,and囍the“shuāngx?“(”doublejoy”),apopulardecorativedesigncomposedoftwostylizedcharacters(“x?“meaning”joyor”happiness”). AtelephonenumberwithalldigitsbeingeightswassoldforUSD270,723inChengdu,China. TheopeningceremonyoftheSummerOlympicsinBeijingbeganon8/8/08at8secondsand8minutespast8pm(localtime).[1] TheHorseshoeCasino,inHammond,Indiana,USA,alsochose08/08/08astheopeningdateforitsnewfacility. AmaninHangzhouofferedtosellhislicenseplatereadingA88888forRMB1.12million(roughlyUSD164,000).[1]Nine

DragonFishIndustryinSingapore,abreederofrareAsianArowanas(whichare“l(fā)uckyfish“themselves,and,beingararespecies,arerequiredtobemicrochipped),makessuretousenumberswithplentyofeightsintheirmicrochiptagnumbers,andappearstoreserveparticularnumbersespeciallyrichineightsandsixes(e.g.702088880006688)forparticularlyvaluablespecimens.[2][3]ThevalueofeightcouldalsobelinkedwithbuddhismandthemeaningofLotusflower(eightpetals).Aspartofgrandopeningpromotions,aCommerceBankbranchinNewYork”sChinatownraffledoffsafetydepositbox#888.An“auspicious“numberingsystemwasadoptedbythedevelopersof39ConduitRoadHongKong,wherethetopfloorwas“88“-Chinesefordoublefortune.ItisalreadycommoninHongKongfor~4thfloorsnottoexist;thereisnorequirementbytheBuildingsDepartmentfornumberingotherthanthatitbeing“madeinalogicalorder.“[4]Atotalof42intermediatefloornumbersareomittedfrom39ConduitRoad:thosemissinginclude14,24,34,64,allfloorsbetween40and59;thefloornumberwhichfollows68is88.[4]Thenumber9(九,Pinyin:ji?,jyutping:gau2),beingthegreatestofsingle-digitnumbers,washistoricallyassociatedwiththeEmperorofChina;theEmperor”srobesoftenhadninedragons,andChinesemythologyheldthatthedragonhasninechildren.Moreover,thenumber9isahomophoneofthewordfor“l(fā)onglasting“(久),andassuchisoftenusedinweddings.UnluckynumbersFourMainarticle:TetraphobiaNumber4(四accounting肆;pinyinsì)isconsideredanunluckynumberinChinese,Korean,Vietnamese[citationneeded]andJapaneseculturesbecauseitisnearlyhomophonoustotheword“death“(死pinyinsǐ).Duetothat,manynumberedproductlinesskipthe“4“:e.g.Nokiacellphones(thereisnoseriesbeginningwitha4),Palm[citationneeded]PDAs,CanonPowerShotG”sseries(afterG3goesG5),etc.InEastAsia,somebuildingsdonothavea4thfloor.(ComparewiththeAmericanpracticeofsomebuildingsnothavinga13thfloorbecause13isconsideredunlucky.)InHongKong,somehigh-riseresidentialbuildingsmissALLfloornumberswith“4“,e.g.4,14,24,34andall40-49floors.Asaresult,abuildingwhosehighestfloorisnumber50mayactuallyhaveonly36physicalfloors.InSingaporeduringtheearly2000s,AlfaRomeointroducedanewmodel,the144.Duetopoorsales,thecompanychangedthemodelnumberoftheproduct.[citationneeded]Number14isconsideredtobeoneoftheunluckiestnumbers.Although14isusuallysaidinMandarinas十四“shísì,“whichsoundslike十死“tendie“,itcanalsobesaidas“yīsì“or“yāosì“,literally“onefour“Thus14canalsobesaidas“yāosì,“l(fā)iterally“onefour,butitalsosoundslike“wanttodie“要死pinyinyàosǐ).InCantonese,14soundslike“sap6sei3“,whichsoundslike“sat6sei2“meaning“certainlydie“實死).NotallChinesepeopleconsiderittobeanunluckynumberasthepronunciationdiffersamongthevariousdialects.InChiuChow,4ispronouncedas“see“or“yes“.ItisseentobealuckynumberbecauseChinesepeoplelikethingsinpairs(fourwouldequaltwopairs).However,thesuperstitionsregardingnumbersfromCantonesepeoplehavebeenadoptedbytheotherChinesepeople.Coincidentally,intheRichTextFormatspecification,languagecode4isfortheChineselanguage.FiveAlthoughfive(五pinyinwǔjyutpingng5)canrepresent“me“(吾,pinyin:wú)inMandarin,itisusuallyassociatedwith“not“(Mandarin無/無,pinyinwú,andCantonese唔m4).Ifusedforthenegativeconnotationitcanbecomegoodbyusingitwithanegative.54being“notdie“or“nodeath“.Ifusedforthepositiveitcanbeusedasapossessive.528isawayofsaying“noeasyfortuneforme“.53(“ng5saam1inCantonese)soundslikem4sang1〔唔生〕“notlive“.SixSixinCantonesewhichhasasimilarpronunciationtothatof“l(fā)ok6“(落,meaning“todrop,fall,ordecline“)mayformunluckycombinations.SevenSevenisconsideredspiritistorghostly.TheseventhmonthoftheChinesecalendarisalsocalledthe“GhostMonth“.SeeGhostFestivalformoredetail.Duringthismonth,thegatesofhellaresaidtobeopensoghostsandspiritsarepermittedtovisitthelivingrealm.However,ChineselunarcalendaralsohasJuly7asChineseValentine”sDay(qixi),sothenumber7isnotgenerallyassociatedwithunluck.InmostoftheregionsinChinanumber7remainsneutralorassociatewithluck.Combinations 167,169,1679:InHongKong,seven(七)andnine(九)bothhavesimilarpronunciationstoand,respectively,twoof“thefivemostinsultingwords“inCantonese-themalegenital.SixinCantonesealsohasasimilarpronunciationtoanimpolitewordwhichisusedtocountthenumberofcylindricalobjects.Therefore,167,169,1679andothercreativecombinations(suchastheinfamoustaboo“on-9-9“)aredirtyjokesinHongKongculture. 250:ifitisreadinacertainway,itmeansimbecileinMandarin.二百五(èrbǎiwǔreadingmeansimbecilewhilealternativewayssuchas兩百(lǐangbǎiwǔor二百五十(èrbǎiwǔshí)means250.Thedifferencelieswiththerulethat兩shouldbeusedintheplaceof二tomean2whendirectlybeforeameasureword(百,inthiscase.) 5354:“唔生唔死“(m4saang1m4sei2inCantonese)soundslike“notalive,notdead“.Thisoftenreferstosomethingthatishalfdeadoronthevergeofdeath.678:“六七八“(jyutping:luk6cat1baat3)rhymeswiththephrase“一路發(fā)“(jyutping:jaat1lou6faat3)inCantonese,whichmeans“fortunealltheway.“Alternatively,168一六八issometimesusedforthesameterminMandarin. 7456InMandarin,7456(qīsìwǔliù)soundsmarginallylike“氣死我了“(qì-sǐwǒ-le,“tomakemeangry,““topissmeoff“),andissometimesusedininternetslang.[5] 9413:九死一生(gau2sei2yat1saang1inCantonese)ninedietooneliv