Numbers get special attention in the eyes of the Chinese. In China, six, eight and nine are considered lucky numbers, since their homophones (同音字) have auspicious (吉祥的) meanings. Six, read as 'Liu' in Chinese implies that everything will go smoothly for you. The number eight was firstly deemed auspicious by the Cantonese, since in Cantonese, eight reads 'Fa', which means to make a great fortune in the near future. Later, the popularity of this number swept China. The number nine, pronounced as 'Jiu', implies things being everlasting, highly regarded in friendship and marriage. Thus, numbers ending with six, eight or nine are very popular. Phone numbers, car license tags and room numbers containing these numbers are certain to be hot property. Four and seven, on the other hand, are unlucky numbers and most people will avoid them when possible, as the former implies death and the latter means gone.

　　Nine also carried a special meaning in ancient China, since nine is the largest odd number under ten, it was regarded as the luckiest number. So, the emperors tended to monopolize (独占) it to symbolize their superiority. Designs relating to nine appeared on almost every imperial structure, such as the palaces. For example, on the gates of the Forbidden City, there are 81 gold-plated bronze studs, which were arranged in nine columns and nine rows. An ancient palace was usually designed as a nine-section architectural complex. Based on this, numbers and size concerning imperial architecture often equal or are multiples or factors of nine.

　　(文/胡仲胤； 英语辅导报高二普及版 04~05学年度第4期；版权归英语辅导报社所有，独家网络合作伙伴新浪教育，未经许可，不得以任何形式进行转载。)