Unlucky 4 – Korea

Title: Unlucky 4 in Korean Culture

General Information about Item:

  • Customary Lore: Superstition
  • Language: English
  • Country of Origin: South Korea
  • Informant: Hyung Ju Nam
  • Date Collected: 02/22/2018

Informant Data:

  • Hyung Ju Nam is a Dartmouth ’21 from Rochester, Michigan. He is originally from South Korea. He is hoping to study Philosophy and Mathematics. He occasionally returns home to South Korea.

Contextual Data:

  • Cultural Context: The modern Korean language spoken these days has roots derived from Chinese language. Korean language is widely spoken in Korea and some numbers are still linked to their historical meanings. The culture has some numbers they consider unlucky because they are associated with bad omen.
  • Social Context: Many Koreans living in Korea are aware of the superstition around the number four. Hyung Ju observed this phenomena when he was still a child.

Item:

  • Four is now regarded as representing death. The number is pronounced in a similar way to the pronunciation of the word death when spoken in the old Korean language (Hanja) therefore it is viewed as an unlucky number. Some hotels have left their fourth floor vacant in an effort to avoid associating anything with the number four. Most hotels usually just skip the numbering of the fourth floor and go from the third to the fifth floor.

Informant’s Comments:

  • He used to believe in the superstition when he was young.

Collector’s Name: Taringana Guranungo

Tags/Keywords:

  • four
  • death
  • Korea

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