When did China start thinking 8 was lucky and 4 unlucky?

Upvote:4

The superstitions are probably quite old, because they originate in the spoken language.

The Chinese word for four, written "si" in Roman characters, is a h*m*nym with the word for "death" and therefore unlucky.

(My father (an immigrant from China) once warned me not to read a book behind someone playing a game unless I wanted him to lose because the Chinese word for book, written "shu" is a h*m*nym for "lose.")

Edit:

I was reminded by Kenny LJ that the Chinese word for eight, written "ba," is a h*m*nym of a word for prosperity or "development." Slightly mispronounced, it is part of the Cantonese New Year's greeting, "gong hei faat choi," which literally translates to "good wishes for developing wealth."

Tom Au 104013

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