Number Meanings in Chinese

[Deleted member 70408]

I know the number 8 is associated with luck and the number 4 with death in Chinese, but I am hoping someone else can tell me what the other numbers mean. Thanks!

 

[Unregistered]

2 means 'easy' - 28 = easy to be rich
3 means 'alive, vital' - 38 = vital and rich
6 means 'infinity' - 68 = rich forever

 

[Mao xiaofei]

6,8,9 is good numbers in China

6: propitious
8: make a pile
9: for a long long time...

 

[RazorNF]

Because of the difference in pronounciation, do all of the numbers have the same symbolic meanings between Mandarin and Cantonese?

 

[denny007]

0 = "you"
1 = "want"
2 = "love"
4 = "die"
5 = "I" or "No"
examples:
520 = I love you
514 = I want to die or Don't want to die
(no guarantee, my chinese is poor)

 

[Unregistered]

Those "lucky numbers" concepts were developed by the cantonese, and has now been broadly used by chinese.

The one raised by danny007 are popular in mandarian speaking communities, due to the pronounciation of the number is close to the word.

 

[typist]

my car licence plate in Vietnam is
80NN54888
Now, does that mean that I will die rich? :-D

Seriusly, while I've had a few friends from HK who told me this combination may be desirable and expensive in HK, I never really thought about this. Did I understand you right that the concept that 4 is related to death is a Mandarin one, not Cantonese (which would probably be more relevant in Vietnam)?

 

[RazorNF]

my car licence plate in Vietnam is
80NN54888
Now, does that mean that I will die rich? :-D

Seriusly, while I've had a few friends from HK who told me this combination may be desirable and expensive in HK, I never really thought about this. Did I understand you right that the concept that 4 is related to death is a Mandarin one, not Cantonese (which would probably be more relevant in Vietnam)?

Not sure about the license plate, but I have heard of people paying big bucks for 8's in their phone number and even trying to buy homes that have 8's in the address.

4, pronounced "say" in cantonese is death as well...

 

[typist]

4, pronounced "say" in cantonese is death as well...

thanks... seems like I'll just have to live with it :-D

The numbers 4, 14 and 24 are associated with death for Cantonese-speaking Chinese people, as the words for these numbers sound like the words for “death”, “must die” and “easy to die”, respectively. A previous study in the United States investigating psychological stress engendered by fear of the number 4 found more cardiac deaths in Chinese and Japanese people, compared with white Americans, on the 4th day of the month.

http://www.mja.com.au/public/issues/179_11_011203/pan10223_fm.html

 

[VirtualT]

0 = "you"
1 = "want"
2 = "love"
4 = "die"
5 = "I" or "No"
examples:
520 = I love you
514 = I want to die or Don't want to die
(no guarantee, my chinese is poor)

oops, considering I just bought 514.net I hope its "I don't want to die"

 

[denny007]

4 can also mean "very" or "awfully"
48 = very rich ("awfully rich"")

 

[typist]

I also found this: "Five sounds the same as nothing or no (ng). So it is best to accompany this with the unlucky 4 and not the lucky 8. 54 sounds like “not dying” and 58 sounds like “not prosperous” in Cantonese."

http://www.feng-shui-architects.com/articles-fengshuinumerology.htm