I’m selling a house that has a street address of 14. The area is quickly becoming the new Chinatown and there is a good chance it will be bought by recent immigrants from China. Someone mentioned that since 4 is considered bad luck (symbolizes death), that 14 might not be a desirable address and we should change it. Legally we can use either 14 or 16 as the address, so is 14 really seen as bad luck because it has a 4 in it or is it just considered a different number with no particular significance?
And if if may piggy back some related questions: would a bank across the street be good from a Feng Shui standpoint? How about having a Funeral home adjacent to the backyard but not directly behind the house?
My old condo building had no 4th, 13th or 14th floor, and on each floor units #4, #13 and #14 were missing. So our apartment number was 2016 on our door, but 1713 on official documents.
Damn house next door, which is owned by a Chinese immigrant BTW, is 18, so can’t do that. Does it count that 8+8 = 16? Can I call it the ba ba house or something else clever?
How common is it for people to make decisions based on this in China?
In the case of the Olympics, they’re largely about symbols and starting them on that particular day on that particular hour is unlikely to have required much of an opportunity cost.
So, how common is it for Chinese people to pass up an opportunity because it’s associated with a bad number?
I don’t think you can quantify it. But it’s not rare.
When it is something you have a lot of control over, then by all means a “lot” of Chinese will avoid it. It’s rare to have a wedding on the 4th of the month (calculated by either the Gregorian or lunar calendar), plenty of women plan their C-sections around auspicious birth times or dates, etc.
Just because your address or phone number has a “4” in it, is not necessarily bad. “14” is not good, and “444” would not be good.
There are a small minority of Chinese who think that “4” is their personal lucky number so if one of those wants your house it’s a lay up.
But if it was me and I wanted to sell my house to someone Chinese and could choose between “14” and “16”, I wouldn’t have to think twice.
As a cultural note, the association is a lot stronger than, say, 13 and back luck in the West. In the US, “13” doesn’t have any independent unpleasant meaning. It’s a fairly random old superstition.
Living at #14, on the other hand, would be kind of like living on “Death Wish Road.” It’s unpleasant and off-putting on it’s own, even without the superstition behind it. Even the most rational person would be a bit uncomfortable with it.
Right above Doom Canyon, near the Bucket Of Blood Chiropractic and Taxidermy Emporium, across the road from the Desecrated Indian Burial Ground Pet Semetary, and built on the Abused Slave Ossuary, which is in Ohio for some literally unholy reason the author will have to provide.
But don’t worry about all the swastika-shaped rocks around; the Asians will embrace them as good-luck charms.
