Tracing back to the reason why westerners prefer the number "3", it is estimated that it is closely related to Christian culture and Greek culture. The ancient Greeks preferred the numbers 3 and multiples of 3. In Christian culture, the numbers "3" and "12" appear very frequently. Jacob had 12 sons; Israelis have ancestors of 12 tribe; Jesus is a disciple and so on.
Westerners' love for "three" is closely related to Christian culture. In western consciousness, "three" represents a perfect whole, such as the father, the son and the holy spirit, that is, the trinity. The number "three" appears frequently in Christian culture. The story about "three" in the Bible is as follows: there are three great saints in Israel; Jonah the prophet stayed in the belly of the fish for three days and nights. When Jesus was born, "three kings came to the DPRK"; Peter denied the Lord three times; Judas betrayed Jesus for thirty pieces of silver; The resurrection on the third day of Christ's crucifixion and so on all cast a mysterious color on the number "three"
China
In Chinese, 3 is a very active number. In addition to the number 3, it often means many, many, many, and even has limited, extreme or little meaning. Such as "three things are not enough", "three lives are lucky", "three inches of golden tongue", "three households die of Qin" and "three inches of golden lotus" and so on. Some people think that "three" is a noble and successful number, and it should be said that it is not unreasonable. China's traditional concept that "two" is heaven, earth and man is of course extremely noble. "Historical Records says that the number starts with one and ends with ten, and becomes J, flying two. Lao Tzu said, "Tao gives birth to one, two, three and everything."
A trademark survey shows that there are 87 trademarks named by numbers in115 trademarks, accounting for 7.80% of all trademarks. The most noteworthy trademarks named after the number "three" are: Sannuo, Sanhong, Sanren, Sanyuan, Jinsanta, Sanquan, Sanyu, Sanlu, 3A, Sanqiang, Li Sanjiao, Li Sanjiao, Sanhuan, Sanjiangyuan, Sanjing, Sanjin, Sanzheng and 13988. The distribution map of well-known digital trademarks in China shows that the trademarks with the number "three" not only have the unique attractive, memorable and impressive characteristics of digital trademarks (except for the three named according to the trademark registration certificate number or the factory code of the China People's Liberation Army), but also contain special meanings such as a large number of products that commodity producers hope to produce, a large scale, a prosperous business and a long career.
Japan
In Japanese culture, the number "three" is often used to connect beautiful things, and it is also endowed with majesty and lofty spirit. It is also often used as a symbol of auspiciousness and peace. Digital names are a major feature of Japanese culture, among which there are many surnames that begin with the number "three", such as San Pu, Miyake, Sanshang, Hao San, Miki, Sancha, Mishima, Mitsui, Sanyuan, Sancun, Misawa, Sanqiao, Tami and Mishi. It is also well known that Mitsubishi and Mitsui, the largest monopoly consortia in Japan, are all derived from Japanese surnames. On the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, Qixi originated from the ancient people's worship of numbers and time. Legend has it that the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl did not have the plot of "Meeting on Tanabata" at first, but "Meeting on Tanabata" was a beautiful pen in the legend. It is no accident that the ancients chose the seventh day of July, but people have a mysterious feeling for "seven", which is also related to digital worship. The ancient people's worship of "Seven" is a very common cultural phenomenon.
According to Taiping Yu Lan, "Millet ripens in July and Yang counts on the seventh day, so elk is precious." July 7th is a good day, so it is regarded as an auspicious day to celebrate the autumn harvest. During the Han and Wei Dynasties, this day was regarded as a day of gathering and entertainment. This day is also the day when the immortals in the Heavenly Palace get together. "Continuation of Qi and Harmony" contains: "On July 7th, the weaver girl crossed the river and the immortal returned to the palace". But more is to see this day as a beautiful day for lovers to meet. The future meeting time of the Cowherd and the Weaver Maid was designated as "Chinese Valentine's Day" by the Queen Mother herself, which was actually people's expectation for "July 7th" and its beautiful implication.
Qixi also comes from the ancient people's worship of time. According to folklore experts, in ancient times, China people combined the sun and the moon with the five planets of gold, wood, water, fire and earth, and called them "Seven Obsidian". "Seven" is manifested in the stages of time among the people, and the calculation of time often ends with "July 7". Using "seven obsidians" to calculate the current "week" is still reserved in Japanese. "Seven" and "Auspicious" are homophonic, and "July 7th" has a double auspicious meaning, which is an auspicious day. Eight is close to the pronunciation of "Fa", and at the same time, it is similar to the pronunciation of "Penalty" and "Deficiency". From the glyph, the Arabic numeral 8 is a round knot, which means that it has no beginning and no end, and it is not auspicious; China's "eight" is composed of two strokes, which is helpless and not an auspicious number. The explanation in Xu Shen's Shuo Wen Jie Zi is: "Eight, don't be, it seems to be anti-form." What good fortune is there in this case? Therefore, before making a choice, we should know something about numbers.
In this way, the opening time of the Beijing Olympic Games should be decided after careful consideration, at 8: 08 pm on August 8, 2008. Nine is a noble number. " In China's traditional concept, nine is the largest odd number and has the noblest meaning, such as "the honor of the ninth five-year plan", "three kneeling and nine knocking" and "keeping one word". Whenever words related to "Nine" are involved, their meanings are inseparable from the meaning of "high above". The reason for this phenomenon is that in ancient China, numbers did not represent quantity at first, but a philosophical thought. For example, "one" is the most basic number in Chinese, so it gives the meaning of ancestors and the source of all things; Nine "is the highest number in the cardinal number, and it is homophonic with the enduring" long ",so it is endowed with folk cultural connotations such as auspiciousness and long-term peace.
Nanjing place names
Perhaps it is the worship of numbers. There are many numbers in Nanjing's place names, such as a garden in the southwest of pontoon bridge on Pearl River Road, a two-way ridge at Shuiximen, a three-arched building in the west section of Model Road, siping road in the east of Da Qiao South Road, Wulong Bridge near Yudao Street, Hexagonal Well in the west of Zhonghua Gate, Qili Street in Longpan Middle Road, Bagua Island in the north of Nanjing Yangtze River, Jiulong Bridge and Maigao Bridge near Dongshuiguan.
When the central bank raises interest rates, it does not raise interest rates by 0.25% or 0.50% like other countries, but by 0. 18% or 0.27%, because the sum of two digits after the decimal point must be a multiple of 9;
September 9(th), 2009
September 9, 2009 has become a good day for many young people to celebrate lifelong events. Many young men and women choose this day to register for marriage, and some choose to hold a wedding reception today. What they are interested in is the once-in-a-century "enduring" good color. Folklore experts explained that on September 9, 2009, because the homonym sounded like "Love you for a long time", many young people chose to tie the knot today and pray for a long marriage. This phenomenon stems from the ancient people's worship of numbers. Now people use the homonym between Chinese characters to express their good wishes by praying for blessings.
develop
With the changes of the times, China people's understanding of numbers has added more meanings. Xinhua Chinese Dictionary has more than 50,000 Chinese characters, but the pronunciation of Chinese characters, including four tones, is only over 2,000 at most, so there are many homophones. It is through this that future generations derive new meanings from the pronunciation of numbers. "Nine" from the initial highest to the largest, because the pronunciation is the same as "long", so it has a very long meaning.