China Lucky #8

Title: Lucky #8 in China

General Information about Item:

  • Superstition, Number lore
  • Language: English
  • Country of Origin: China
  • Informant: Edric Wung
  • Date Collected: 2/27/18

Informant Data:

  • Edric Wung was born on May 18, 1996 in The District of Columbia, USA. However, both of his parents are Chinese as they grew up in China, but and are currently employed and living in the United States.  Edric attends Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire where he competes on the Men’s Varsity Golf Team and is majoring in economics with the goal of working in finance after graduation.

Contextual Data:

  • Cultural Context: I interviewed Edric on February 27th in the Dartmouth College Library. The lucky number that Edric discussed with me was the number 8.  He originally learned the folklore behind this number from his family and their Chinese cultural background and beliefs. He was first introduced to this number and its significance when his mother would tell him Chinese riddles and tales involving the lucky number 8.
  • Social Context: Although Edric said he is not normally a strong believer in lucky and unlucky numbers, he believes 8 is a very important number to him and that it brings him great luck. For example, since he is a golfer, his 8-iron has always been the golf club he feels the most comfortable hitting and rarely hits poor shots with it, therefore adding to his belief that 8 is a very lucky number. Another example he told me about was how people in China would pay extra sums of money to have a license plate with the number 8 on it.

Item:

  • In China, the number 8 has long been regarded as one of the luckiest numbers in Chinese culture. It is pronounced as ‘Ba’ in Chinese, and sounds very similar to the word ‘Fa’, which means to make a fortune. Therefore, because it sounds so close to a word that is associated with wealth and prosperity, its seen as being very lucky.

Collector’s Name: John Lazor-Hanover, NH

Tags/Keywords: 

  • superstition
  • lucky number

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