Is the number 4 auspicious?

4 is an auspicious number

I don’t know since when, Chinese people have been very taboo about the number 4. The reason is that 4 is homophonic with death. In fact, 4 is an auspicious number, both theoretically and factually. It is often associated with wealth and luck, without any connotation of disaster. Below are the evidences one by one.

Theoretical basis:

The "Book of Changes" is a book used for divination in ancient my country. As the saying goes, "Learn the Book of Books and you will speak; learn the Book of Changes and you will tell fortunes." In today's highly developed science and technology, Yi Xue's scientific achievements have been recognized by many scholars. In the Book of Changes, the "four" in the innate Bagua corresponds to the Zhen Gua, which contains positive, enterprising, and prosperous intentions; the "Four" in the acquired Bagua corresponds to the Sunda Gua, which contains free, lively, prosperous, and other intentions. Bad luck, bad luck, unlucky meaning.

For example, Chinese residential architecture pays great attention to Feng Shui, but no Feng Shui master has ever considered it unlucky for a building like a courtyard. On the contrary, this kind of building has a long history, dating back more than 3,000 years. In the Western Zhou Dynasty, its form had begun to take shape and was the most widely distributed. It was a typical form of Han folk residences. The famous Forbidden City was actually in the layout of a quadrangle, which can also be said to be a large quadrangle. Judging from the layout of the courtyard, the cultural implications it embodies are privacy, security, and harmony. Another example is the traditional Chinese dish Sixi Meatballs, which was first created in the Tang Dynasty and has been popular for thousands of years. It has always been a must-have dish at weddings and other major festive banquets. There is also the couplet handed down from ancient times: "Business is prospering all over the world, and wealth is vast and abundant in three rivers." There is also a four in it, but no Yi Xue master said this couplet is ominous. In foreign countries, 4 is a lucky number. For example, Valentine's Day is February 14th, and the day before Christmas, the most important holiday, is December 24th, which is equivalent to the Chinese New Year's Eve, and the night of this day is known in foreign countries. People call it Christmas Eve.

Those who are afraid of 4 are afraid of the fact that 4 is a homophone for death. Little did they know that there is another word with the same pronunciation for 4, namely "Temple". The explanation of "Temple" in the International Standard Chinese Dictionary is:

1) Ancient official signature: Taichang~ (the official office in charge of ancestral temple etiquette in ancient times). Honglu~ (same as the modern concierge).

2) The place where Buddhist monks live: Buddha~,~contemporary.

3) Places where Muslims worship and preach: Halal.

Judging from the meaning of the above-mentioned temples and the functions of temples for thousands of years, temples have always been associated with holiness, peace, and peace. They are places where people pray for peace and happiness, so they are enshrined here. They worship the gods who can protect them, such as the world-famous Shaolin Temple and Lingyin Temple, which have been popular for thousands of years. Islamic mosques are sacred places that cannot be profaned. The temple itself is a peaceful place. In ancient times, there was a saying that thieves should not steal from the temple, because committing crimes here will offend the gods and be punished. During the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, Hamas always wanted to hide in the mosque for refuge. This is because Israel has concerns about bombing mosques, fearing condemnation from the Islamic world. One is a homophone and the other is a homophone. So which one does 4 have a closer blood relationship with? It goes without saying at this point. If 4 must be associated with death, then the temples will not escape bad luck. Shaolin Temple, Lingyin Temple, etc. are all called Shaolin Death, Lingyin Death, and Halal Death. Then people will go to these places to travel, burn incense, and Isn’t going on a pilgrimage to seek death? If we insist on saying that 4 and death are related to the same family and have nothing to do with the temple, wouldn't it be equivalent to insisting that the person named Wang is the son of Wang?

Factual basis:

Throughout history, people related to the Four are often very lucky and wealthy people. It can be said that they are "blessed because of the Four". Here are a few characters , and these figures are very famous and well-known to everyone:

1. Li Siguang

Li Siguang is a famous geologist in our country and even the world, and is a national pillar as famous as Qian Xuesen. , has outstanding achievements. Without Mr. Li, we would not have discovered large oil fields, and we would not be able to get rid of the label of an oil-poor country. Mr. Li is famous all over the world, and his name contains the number four, which is homophonic to "death light". According to the current understanding of the "fear of four" theory, it is really unlucky, but Mr. Li is a long-lived man. He was born in 1889. He died in 1971 at the age of 82, which was definitely considered a long life given the medical standards at the time. In addition, when he was young, he participated in the Tongmenghui led by Sun Yat-sen, and he was safe during the bloody and dangerous years; during the Cultural Revolution, countless intellectuals were persecuted, but Mr. Li survived.

2. Zhang Xueliang and Miss Zhao Si; Miss Zhao Si was called Miss Zhao Si because she was the fourth among the sisters. She was born on May 28, 1912 and died of illness on June 22, 2000. , died at the age of 88, which is also a long-lived person. Zhang Xueliang did not die early because he had a wife with "four children". On the contrary, he lived to be over 100 years old.

3. Cheng Yaojin;

Cheng Yaojin (593-665), a native of Dong'a, Jeju (now southwest of Dongping, Shandong), late Sui Dynasty and early Tang Dynasty

A famous historical figure and a well-known comedy character in opera novels. At the end of the Sui Dynasty, the peasant uprising army led by Qin Qiong occupied Wagang Mountain and raised the banner of rebellion against the Sui Dynasty. 46 of their friends became sworn brothers. Cheng Yaojin ranked fourth among them and was called the fourth brother or fourth brother. Such a title did not call him to death because of the homophony of "dead brother" and "dead brother". On the contrary, it was a famous and blessed general who served as the virtuous emperor in Wagang Mountain. Later, he was also entrusted with important tasks by His Highness Li Shimin, and He can often turn misfortune into good fortune, and he is 72 years old, which is also a long life.

4. Zhu Yuanzhang

Zhu Yuanzhang was the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty. He was born into a poor peasant family. During his resistance to the rule of the Yuan Dynasty, he formed an alliance with six friends in Luanshi Mountain. That is the seven brothers mentioned in the novel. Zhu Yuanzhang was also ranked fourth among the seven brothers. This ranking brought him not disaster but blessing. Among the seven brothers, he was the only one to become the emperor and enjoy all the glory and preciousness. He was 70 years old, which was a long life for that era, but several other brothers were brutally persecuted.

5. Emperor Yongle of the Ming Dynasty, Yongzheng of the Qing Dynasty, and Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty

The above three emperors all succeeded their fathers. There is an unwritten rule in the feudal dynasty, that is, the eldest son usually succeeds to the throne, and only under special circumstances will other princes succeed to the throne. The emperor had many sons. It would be extremely lucky if he could take his turn to be the emperor. The above three were all ranked fourth among the princes. The number "four" brought them luck and allowed them to ascend the throne of the emperor. And they were not called to death because they were called 'Four Princes' and 'Four Princes' which were homophones of death. Especially Qianlong, who lived 89 years, was the longest among emperors.

6. Zhao Yun

Although Zhao Yun (? - 229) in the Three Kingdoms era was not the authentic sworn brother of Liu Guanzhang, he had a very good relationship with the three and was also called the fourth brother. , Zhao Yun is recognized as a victorious general, and he died at a healthy age. Although it is impossible to find the date of his birth, it is inferred from the historical records of the Three Kingdoms that he was also a long-lived person. The four characters of his fourth brother did not bring him any bad luck or disaster.

In addition, the famous May Fourth Movement should be interpreted as the "I Die Movement" according to the theory of homophony, but in fact it is just the opposite. The May Fourth Movement was a patriotic movement of the Chinese people against imperialism and feudalism. A glorious page in modern Chinese history with far-reaching significance. This movement not only defended the dignity of the nation and the territorial integrity of the country, but also opened up a new situation for the Chinese revolution and brought new ideas to the development of the country and the revitalization of the nation.

The fear of 4 theory favors 8, and believes that 8 and the pronunciation of Yi sound mean wealth. In fact, this is a far-fetched statement. First of all, it should be clear that hair is a verb, and the word itself does not have any meaning of wealth. The following is the explanation of "fa" in the International Standard Chinese Dictionary;

1) Deliver, send out: cent~. ~ Put. ~ OK.

2) Put, shoot: ~ shoot. One hundred to one hundred. Huan~.

3) Expression, elaboration: ~ table. ~Where (state the gist of a certain subject or a book). Explain ~.

4) Disperse, disperse: ~ disperse.

5) To develop, to expand, to expand: ~ to expand. ~ Yang.

6) Open, reveal: ~ present. ~ Dig.

7) Produce, appear: ~生. ~ Angry. Fen~.

8) Food swells due to fermentation or water soaking: ~ noodles.

9) Appear, show: ~ disease. ~ Shake. ~憷.

10) Start the action: ~ move.

11) Cause, start: start ~. ~ People think deeply.

12) Announce, announce: ~ cloth. ~ Giving orders.

13) Quantifier, used for bullets and cannonballs.

Only when the suffix "fa" is suffixed with the corresponding object can it have a clear meaning. For example, if it is suffixed with "财,家", it becomes "make money, make a fortune", which has an auspicious meaning. For example, if it is suffixed with " "Sickness, sorrow, mourning" is not a good meaning if it is composed of "sickness, sorrow, mourning".

The theory of fear of 4 and joy of 8 also ignores another problem, that is, there is another word with the same pronunciation as 8, namely "scar". This word is connected with disease and trauma whether from the radicals or from the dictionary explanation. Together, the common words are "scars, scars". Moreover, the shape of the number 8 is indeed very similar to the scars left by certain diseases. Facts have shown that the number 8 is indeed associated with many major disasters. For example, time is the most important data in the prediction of earthquakes. Only by accurately predicting the time of earthquakes can we effectively avoid them. The times of several major earthquakes in our country are related to 8. For example, the magnitude 6.8 and 8 earthquakes in Xingtai area of ​​Hebei Province The 7.2-magnitude earthquake occurred on March 8, 1966, the Tangshan earthquake occurred on July 28, 1976, and the Wenchuan earthquake occurred at 2:28 pm on May 12, 2008, and it was counting down every day. There are 88 days left before the Olympic Games opens. There is also our National Humiliation Day on September 18th, which is an unforgettable and difficult day. The 1994 Karamay fire occurred on December 8. The fire was extremely tragic and all the people burned to death were outstanding primary and secondary school students in the city. It shocked people at home and abroad at the time, and it still makes people cry now. It can be seen that 8 does not necessarily indicate auspiciousness, and it does not make sense in theory or fact.

It can be seen that it is unscientific, ineffective, and extremely one-sided to judge good or bad luck based only on homophonic sounds, just like judging the quality of a product by relying solely on its name when buying something. If a hotel sells a longevity soup, can it really prolong life? If there is a brand name for computers called Hi-Speed, will their speed really be faster than other brands? If we use the theory of homophony to judge good and bad luck, the number 6 is also a scary number, because 6 is homophonic with the word "tumor" for tumor, so having tumors on your body is not a good thing. 9 is also not a good number, because although 9 has the same pronunciation with "jiu", it also has the same pronunciation with "悩" (meaning coffin). Nowadays, many people keep dogs. The barking of a dog is "woof, woof", which is homophonic to "death", which is the same as death. Does that mean that the dog should be killed and replaced with a starling? Silkworm farmers should also change their profession, because silkworms need to plant mulberry trees and collect mulberry leaves, and "mulberry tree, pick mulberry" can have the same pronunciation as "mourning tree, pick mourning". Dialectical materialism points out that the only criterion for testing truth is practice, or facts. It is recommended that those friends who are deeply worried about the license plate number containing 4 go to the traffic management bureau for consultation to see if cars with 4 in the license plate number have a higher incidence of traffic accidents. It is a scientific and rational attitude to judge good or bad luck based on the statistical results of the Traffic Management Bureau, rather than relying on subjective imagination. Although I have not seen this statistical result, I believe it has nothing to do with it. Driving safety depends on obeying traffic rules and maintaining good vehicle and road conditions.

Four is closely related to our lives. Four is everywhere. It cannot be avoided and there is no need to avoid it. For example, if a private car has four wheels, for the sake of luck, do we need to add a few more and change it to a six-wheeled vehicle or an eight-wheeled vehicle? The gates that are frequently entered and exited have four corners. Could it be that they were changed to the Moon Gate for the sake of auspiciousness? The floor tiles in the house are square. For the sake of good luck, should they be made into triangles or octagons? If you go to the airport to take a plane, if the plane is a Boeing 747, do you dare not take it because the homophone of 747 is "go to hell"? Also, even if we read 4 as death, what’s so scary? There is a famous tourist attraction in Israel called the Dead Sea, and its English name is also dead sea. But does the Dead Sea really mean death? The truth is exactly the opposite. The Dead Sea is safer than other seas. People cannot drown in the Dead Sea. Even if they don’t know how to swim, it will be fine. If people fall in, they will not sink to the bottom. Instead, they can float on the sea and read newspapers, and they can often soak in the sea water. It can treat chronic diseases such as arthritis. Every year, tens of thousands of tourists come to the Dead Sea for tourism and recuperation.

In short, we should believe in science and respect facts, and should not let subjective conjectures imprison our minds.