The Taboos about Numbers and Colors
2 min readThe Taboo about Numbers:
Ta Chinese culture,certain numbers are believed by some to be auspicious or inauspicious baret on the Chinese word that the number name sounds similar to.However some Chinese peopke regurd these beliefs to be superstitions.Since the pronunciation and the vocabulary may e diiferent in different Chinese dialects,the rules are generally not applicable for all cases.
Becaese of the supposed auspiciousness of certain numbers,some people will often choose, attepnnt to obtain, or pay large sums for numbers that are considered to be lucky for their phone muimobers, street addresses,residence floor (in a multi-story building),driver’s license number, vebicie hcense plate number,bank account number,etc.
Lucky mumbers are based on Chinese words that sound similar to other Chinese words.The moanbers o,s,and 9 are believed to have auspicious meanings because their names sound similar to words that have positive meanings.
The Taboo about Colors:
In China,white is the color of mourning and death.Chinese people call wedding”red. matters”,while funerals”white matters”,During a funeral,mourning dress,mourning hat, mouuruing shoes are unanimously white.Hlence the white turns into fierce color in the daily tfe,which causes fear and disgust.In traditional opera,”white face”symbolizes betrayal and dupliciry.On stage the role of Cao Cao’s face is white.
In Chinese culture,white and black make people think of white and black ghosts in the underworld who hook out people’s soul when they die.In modern times,influenced by foreign cultures,people begin to twine black weeds around their arms at funerals.So similar to white, black is also associated with death and misfortune.In modern times,black is associated with committing crimes and breaking law etc.
In Chinese culture,it’s a taboo for a male to wear a green hat.When a woman makes her hushand a cuckold bv committing adultery her husband is said to”wear a green hat”.This meaning comes from Tang Dynasty,during which time,green was used as a sign of punishment in law.In Ming Dynasty,Zhu Yuanzhang stipulated that men of prostitute’s family must wear green turban.
In China,the ancient Mongols were keen on the color blue,they call their country”blue Mongolian”.In Chinese.blue has a few symbolic meanings.
In China,yellow is associated with sex.However,in ancient times Yellow is the symbol of Chinese emperor,representing highly respectable,the divine right of kings,sacred and inviolable power.Yellow.the royal color used by the emperors,represents sacred and inviolable power. divine right and authority.And commoners were not allowed to wear yellow until modern times. In Ming and Qing Dynasties,the roofs of the Imperial Palace,Royal Ancestral Temple and other royal buildings were all yellow.Yellow is also given the meaning of fairness,the five stars of the Five-Starred Red flag.the national flag of the People’s Republic of China,are also vellow
