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Sunday, July 30, 2006
CHINA: BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE NUMBER THREE You may break a tiny intellectual sweat today, but I hope it is fun. Following is a short blurb on numbers in China. It is my way of tangentially linking two stories. Hey, at least I admit it.  No, I don't know who this guy is and I don't know why I put him here except he made me smile. People in China, like anywhere, associate fate with various numbers. This is a VERY short primer in Chinese numbers: Even numbers are generally better than odd numbers. When gifts are given as a part of a celebration, guests will always give even-numbered presents. Two (2) connotes harmony, so at weddings decorations are hung in pairs. Six (6), pronounced as 'Liu', sounds similar in Chinese (Liu) to a phrase that means "do everything smoothly"; and eight (8), which is 'Ba' in Chinese, has a similar sound to 'Fa', which means to make big bucks!. The bad, bad number in the even line-up is four (4). Similar to Japanese the sound of four resembles the pronumciation for death. And get this: I am a poet, so you might call me a shijin(shi=poem, jin-person) in Japanese while a dead person is a shinin. Maybe that is why you don't see a lot of Asian poetry these days. You don't find many 4th floors in South China and even license tags, rooms, and phone numbers (sold here, not assigned) with a four in them are cheaper or just left idle. To even things out: odd number seven (7) implies anger and recklessness, but nine, can mean longevity/eternity. And now that it is also in fashion here for lovers to send roses: One rose represents that you have only one true love; two roses means there are only two people in your starry universe; and three stands for Wo Ai Ni (I love you) and nine, of course, stands for everlasting love. But, today is brought to you by the number three (3): China has moved out of the dreaded #4 slot in several areas and is now running third: --China is now the 3rd biggest producer of Internet spam in the world. America is #1. Click on the picture for one of the funniest spoofs I have ever seen on spam. And be sure to click on the internal links:  --China is now the #3 largest humanitarian aid donor in the world only recently surpassing Japan. Sadly, a lot of the dough goes to North Korea (#1 in per capita military personnel) who would rather kick soccer referee's butts and build bogus missiles than feed its own people. America is the world's largest country charity.  --China became the third biggest importer of American products by leapfrogging Japan. China now not only sells to the Great Wallmart, it buys from it. Wallmart now has about 50 stores in the Middle Kingdom with employees making upwards of .79 cents an hour!  --And China is now #3 in the number of atheists, the third largest producer of movies on the planet (bet you cannot name 3!) and Hong Kong, arguably China, has the third largest number of jails (where the hell do they put them?) in the world. And just in case you were wondering: China is #1 in executions, but only 14th per capita. The Bahamas (re-think that Disney cruise!) is #1 per capita. China does not make the top 50 in per capita citizens serving in the military, but does have the biggest standing Army (The U.S. is #3) with Russia a distant second. China is only 2nd in prisoners as America has almost twice as many people locked up, with Russia a far third. That's it for today and fun with numbers. Re-join me another day when I do something alphabetical or stranger.... China Executions Asia cartoons Humor Luck Russia Humor Folkways Folklore Superstitons Chinese folklore Chinese Numerology Chinese Prisons Chinese Military Cartoons, copyright cagle.com Blogger News Network is advertiser-supported, and your visits to our advertisers help BNN to meet its expenses. Help keep us afloat! posted by Lonnie at 6:15 AM |
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