Lucky numbers in Chinese: 8, 4, 520 and gift taboos

Standard Chinese has relatively few distinct syllables, and many words sound the same: the Cihai (辞海) dictionary lists 149 characters read yì. Chinese speakers enjoy using this for wordplay; such sound puns are called 谐音 (xiéyīn).

Numbers are no exception. Some are thought to bring luck (吉利, jílì), others misfortune, depending on the word they sound like: 6 and 8 are widely considered lucky, 4 unlucky. These are beliefs, which people follow to varying degrees, and many of these puns work only in Mandarin, or only in Cantonese.

For learners they are very useful, because they show how much tones matter. Some pairs are true homophones (九 jiǔ and 久 jiǔ); others differ only in tone (四 sì and 死 sǐ) or in the initial consonant (八 bā and 发 fā). The audio examples on this page give the exact pronunciation of each word.

Numbers also serve as shortcuts in messages: 88 (bābā) sounds close to 拜拜 (bàibài), "bye-bye", while 250 (二百五, èrbǎiwǔ) is an insult for someone very foolish.

8 is considered a particularly lucky number. 八 (bā, "eight") rhymes with 发 (fā, "to prosper"), the verb in 发财 (fācái, "to get rich") and in the New Year wish 恭喜发财. A number with several eights is therefore much sought after, and prices such as 58 or 88 are common. The number 168 sounds like 一路发 (yí lù fā), "prosper all the way".

The best-known example is the Beijing Olympics. The opening ceremony was set for August 8, 2008, 08/08/08, because of the number 8. It began at 8 p.m. Beijing time; some sources even say 8:08 p.m., or 8:08:08 p.m.

Note that bā and fā are not homophones: they only rhyme. As often with these puns, a resemblance is enough, which makes them good listening practice: 八 starts with a b, 发 with an f, and both carry the first tone.

4 has a bad reputation: 四 (sì, "four") sounds like 死 (sǐ, "to die"). In Mandarin the two words differ only in tone; in Cantonese they are almost identical. People therefore avoid phone numbers and addresses containing 4, and 14 (shísì) sounds like 是死 (shì sǐ), "it is death".

The fear shows in buildings: in East Asia, some have no 4th floor and no room numbers with a 4. In Hong Kong, where cultures mix, some also skip the 13th floor, and a few residential towers go straight from the 39th to the 50th floor, a trick that is also commercial, since higher floors sell for more there.

It should not be overstated, though. 4 was not always an unlucky number: it is even, and many Chinese concepts come in fours. Among the Teochew, one of China's dialect groups, it is actually lucky. In mainland China, the army uses it freely, for instance in the name of the Dongfeng-4 missile. Finally, gifts are happily given in pairs, but people avoid giving four of anything.

6 is popular in business: in Mandarin, 六 (liù) evokes 溜 (liū, "to glide, to go smoothly"), and in Cantonese it sounds like 禄 ("good fortune"). The phrase 六六大顺 (liùliù dàshùn), "may everything go smoothly", is a lucky one.

9 sounds exactly like 久 (jiǔ, "a long time"), which is why it is liked at weddings. It was also the emperor's number: his robes often bore nine dragons.

Numbers can also say "I love you". 520 (wǔ èr líng) sounds roughly like 我爱你 (wǒ ài nǐ), and 1314 like 一生一世 (yìshēng yíshì), "a whole lifetime": 5201314 thus means "I will love you all my life". The link between 520 and 我爱你 first appeared in 1998 in a song by the Taiwanese singer Fan Xiaoxuan (范晓萱), without catching on; in 2010, pushed by businesses, May 20 became an "online Valentine's Day" in mainland China. The pun remains approximate: it relies on mixing up the initials n and l, which most varieties of Chinese do not do, and in Cantonese 520 rather suggests unlucky meanings.

Homophones also weigh on gifts. The best-known taboo: do not give a clock. "To give a clock" is 送钟 (sòng zhōng), exactly like 送终 (sòngzhōng), "to see someone off to their end", in other words their funeral. Such a gift is especially unwelcome for an elderly person. Watches, on the other hand, are not called 钟 and are common gifts. In 2015, Susan Kramer, a British government official, gave a watch to the mayor of Taipei, Ko Wen-je, without knowing the taboo, which caused some embarrassment and led to an apology.

The pear (梨, lí) sounds like 离 (lí, "to leave, to part"): sharing a pear (分梨, fēn lí) sounds like 分离 (fēnlí, "separation"). In the past people therefore avoided slicing one to share; few still follow the rule, and some even bring pears to a sick person so that they "leave the illness" (离病).

The umbrella (伞, sǎn) recalls 散 (sàn, "to scatter, to break up"), and so does the fan (扇, shàn). Cantonese even has another word for umbrella, 遮, which avoids the association.

If you receive such a gift anyway, the bad luck can be undone by paying a small coin in return: the gift then becomes a purchase.

Homophones are also used to attract luck. At New Year, fish (鱼, yú) is served because the word sounds like 余 (yú, "surplus"): 年年有鱼, "fish every year", sounds like 年年有余, "abundance every year". Fish also appear as decorations during the festival.

The character 福 (fú, "good fortune") is pasted upside down: 倒 (dào, "upside down") sounds like 到 (dào, "to arrive"), so "the 福 is upside down" (福倒了) sounds like "good fortune has arrived" (福到了).

Traditional painting plays the same game. Bats (蝠, fú) are common because the word sounds like 福; a carp swimming among lotus flowers expresses the wish for continuing profits, since carp (鲤, lǐ), fish (鱼, yú) and lotus (莲, lián) recall "profit" (利, lì), "surplus" (余, yú) and "in succession" (连, lián). Even wedding gifts follow suit: chopsticks (筷子, kuàizi) are given because they sound like 快子, "a son soon".

The game goes on today: apples (苹果, píngguǒ) are given on Christmas Eve, 平安夜 (Píng'ānyè), because 苹 and 平 are both píng, and 平安 means "peace, safety".

In China, people count from 1 to 10 on one hand. From 1 to 5, you simply raise the right number of fingers. Beyond that, each number has its own sign:

• 6: thumb and little finger out, the other fingers folded;

• 7 (in the north): the tips of the thumb, index and middle finger pinched together;

• 8 (in the north): thumb and index finger out in an "L";

• 9: the index finger bent into a hook;

• 10: a closed fist, the index and middle finger crossed, or both index fingers crossed to form 十.

Watch out for regional variants. In Fujian, Guangdong, Hong Kong and Taiwan, 7 is the thumb with the index finger pointing down, like a "7", and 8 is thumb, index and middle finger, "7 + 1": so the northern 8 can pass for a 7. In Taiwan, 9 is four fingers out, all but the little finger.

The gestures were widely used in trade, where they avoided misunderstandings between dialects: in some, 4 (四, sì) and 10 (十, shí) are hard to tell apart. The same hand can also mean 5 or 50: context decides.