Did You Know that the Number Four Can Also Symbolize Luck in Chinese Culture?

Many cultures across the world portray the idea of symbolism behind numbers. For instance, the number 13 is shunned upon in the western world. Similarly, the number 4 is shunned upon in Chinese culture. Both the number 13 and 4 are speculated to be unlucky, and a foreshadowing of bad events to come. 

However, the number 4 isn’t entirely as dire as people make it out to be. Ironically, the number 4 can also be associated with luck and prosperity! Furthermore, the number 4 can also be associated with good zodiac characteristics such as patience. Finally, the number four can be used for describing a variety of concepts such as the four seasons!

There is one simple reason as to why the number 4 is shunned in Chinese society. The number four is pronounced as (四->Sì). But, the word for death is also pronounced as(死->Sǐ). Since these words have similar pronunciations, the number four is considered to symbolize bad luck and death. 

On the other hand, the number four can also be considered prosperous and auspicious! In the musical scale, four(四->Sǐ) is pronounced as (发->Fā). The word (发->Fā) means fortune in Chinese culture. Furthermore, the number four correlates to religious ideologies as well. These religious ideologies include the Four Greatnesses in Buddhism and the four Moral Criterions amongst others. The Four Greatnesses of Buddhism refer to Earth, water, wind and fire; they symbolize the greatest natural power a human could obtain. The Four Moral Criterions state that the Chinese should lead a lifestyle of righteousness, wisdom, politeness and kindness. 

As previously mentioned, the number four can also be used to represent a variety of concepts. These concepts include the four seasons, four directions and four inventions of China (paper making, compass, printing, gunpowder) amongst others! Additionally, the number four can also symbolize many positive zodiac characteristics. These characteristics include patience, reliability, conservativeness and diligence amongst others!

To sum it all up, the number four doesn’t deserve the notoriety that it does. As you can see, it can also be considered quite lucky. Therefore, the next time you see the number four, think twice before you decide to immediately shun it.

Sources: https://www.travelchinaguide.com/intro/lucky-number4.htm

There are 20 comments

  1. Richard Ren

    Yet another excellent article by the Daily China! Wow, I always thought that four was an unlucky number in Chinese society. However, I had no idea it could be considered prosperous. It’s also interesting that it applies to religious ideologies. Very interesting!

  2. Peter Ochalek

    Really informative article. Wow, I didn’t know that the number 4 could also symbolize luck! I just assumed that it always acted as a symbol of bad luck since it sounds like the Chinese word for death. I wonder what other kinds of associations the number 4 could have in Chinese. I’m pretty surprised that 4 is also associated with patience

  3. Jessica Chen

    Great article! I didn’t know that the number four could also symbolize luck. I’ve only heard it being described as unlucky because the word sounds like death in Chinese. I will definitely tell my parents about this interesting article, thank you for sharing!

  4. Leanne Lu

    Great article! I never knew the number 4 could symbolize good luck in China. I only knew people considered it bad luck because of its similar pronunciation to death. It’s amazing how many different concepts the number 4 can represent. I’m glad to hear the number isn’t completely unlucky.

  5. Bill Liu

    Very unusual. I thought that 4 could represent something unlucky, because it can represent death. I never knew that 4 is also used in other forms of luck! 4 can stand for many things like seasons, directions, and so many more. Thank you so much for this article.

  6. Andy Jiang

    Interesting article! I never knew that 4 could be lucky; I always thought it to be unlucky because of its similar sound to “death” in Chinese. Nice job! Thanks for sharing!

  7. Emanuel Florez

    This was a very interesting article. I did not know that the number 4 could symbolize good luck and bad luck. I didn’t know that the number 4 hsd a similar pronunciation as death. I didn’t know it could be used to describe the 4 seasons. I really liked this article.

  8. Alexia Goldenberg

    Cool article! I honestly didn’t know that the number 4 was bad luck or good luck. I never made the connection that 4 represented death. I guess these points can lead to a very controversial argument. I don’t really look at numbers with good or bad luck so I guess 4 is right in the middle.

  9. Stephen Liang

    My parents tell me this all the time whenever we come across numbers. Personally, I don’t believe that any number represents bad or good luck. You made some interesting points that four can mean good luck, but I don’t think my parents will be convinced. The pictures included are very informative. Thanks for writing!

  10. Joanne Li

    Amazing article! I’d always thought that the number 4 was unlucky, but I guess it really isn’t! I really like how you gave so many examples of four linked concepts or items in Chinese philosophy/culture. I’d never thought about that! Thank you for sharing.

  11. Catherine Liu

    This was interesting. I’ve heard that the number four is considered unlucky in China but never heard of it as a lucky number. I’ve heard that the number eight has a similar pronunciation as the word fortune in Chinese but never knew four could be correlated with fortune. I also didn’t know the number 4 could be associated with innovations or zodiac characteristics. Thanks for this informative article!

  12. Carina Lau

    Wow interesting article! I have always thought the number 4 symbolized something bad and misfortune. I’ve never heard it as a lucky number before. It’s interesting that it can be thought of as prosperous and auspicious! Thanks for sharing!

  13. Harvey

    老话说得好,信则有,不信则无。有些人可能很忌讳这个,但是现在大部分年轻人都不怎么在意。

  14. Natasha Kulviwat

    Wonderful Article! I never knew that the number 4 could be lucky. I was aware that there was a bag stigma around the number 4 because it had a similar pronunciation to the word death. Nonetheless, amazing article, I definitely learned something new!

  15. Arjun Bindra

    A lot of info in this article. I already new beforehand that 4 was unlucky because of the relation to death because of the different tone, but I didn’t know that it could be related to fortune.

  16. Jay Pierre

    A very good article. My only critique would be to refine your tone. I like the excitement and it really adds to the article, but if you aren’t careful it becomes disingenuous. It’s a really small nitpick and barely affects the overall article. But you guys are really good and this is an amazing site so what works for you guys is much more important than what I think.

  17. lucas weinholtz

    A very interesting and informative article. I never knew that the number four was considered lucky. I always just assumed it was a random number like everything else such as 1,2,3,4. This was actually a really cool fun fact and something new I learned today.

  18. Josephine Soong

    I knew that “four” was an unlucky number in culture, I read an article that some elevators in Southeast Asian Countries don’t put the number four because of the bad luck that it entails! This shows a completely different side of the “bad luck” stigma in Asian countries.

  19. sharon alforque

    Loved this article, all along a lot fine it unsual for me to consider 4 as my lucky no.. Married on 4-24-04, my 2 of professional licenses ends in 4, my mobile no has three 4’s and many many more..

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