Luck Numbers

In China, many people believe that some numbers can bring good luck, while some are often connected with misfortune. For example, number 6 in China usually means “doing things smoothly”, number 8 means “make a fortune”, and number 10 means “prefect”. While the number such as 4, usually means “death” because its pronunciation is similar with the Chinese character Si. Therefore, the superstitious people will try their best not to choose telephone numbers or car plate numbers or door numbers which are contain with 4. And the people usually will not have their wedding on 4th. People believe those numbers have magic power, which can bring them good luck or bad luck.
在中國，許多人相信一些數字能給人帶來好運氣，而另一些則不太吉利。比如說，數字6在中國表示“六六大順”；數字8表示“掙大錢，大家發”，數字10則表示“十全十美”。而數字4，因為其發音與中文中的“死”字相近，所以被認為不吉利。因此，迷信的人們盡量避免自己的電話號碼、車牌號碼或是門牌號碼含有數字4，人們通常也不會在4號舉行婚禮。他們相信，這些數字是有魔力的，能給人帶來好運氣或壞運氣。
In my humble opinion, I do not think these so-called lucky numbers can bring people good luck. Number stand for nothing but quantity. They are only some arbitrary symbols used for communication. Our ancestors created numbers for counting, not for luck. People believe number 8 can bring good fortune is only because the pronunciation of eight has almost the same sound of “fa cai” in Cantonese. The ironic part is the people who choose the number on purpose do not always make big money, while the people whose telephone numbers or car plate numbers contain 4 do not kick their buckets. Shakespeare said, “If we call a rose by any other name, it would smell sweet as well.” This means there is no connection between sound and meaning. So it’s no good to believe that number has something to do with the luck.
在我看來，我不認為這些所謂的“幸運數字”能給人們帶來好運。數字值代表數量。它們不過是一些為了溝通交流而產生的任意符號。我們的祖先創造數字是為了記熟而不是為了運氣。人們之所以相信數字8能給人帶來好運氣是因為“八”的發音與廣東話“發財”的發音幾乎一樣。最諷刺的是那些故意選了數字8最為電話號碼、車牌號碼的人也沒有一直賺大錢發大財，而那些選擇了數字4的人也都活得好好的。莎士比亞曾說過：“如果我們把‘玫瑰’稱為其他的名字，它依舊香甜。”這意味著發音與詞義沒有很大的聯系。所以，一味的相信數字能帶來好運氣不是一件好事情。
To sum up, we should believe in our personal ability instead of so-called lucky numbers, as a proverb goes, “Man proposes, God disposes.”
總得來說，我們應該相信個人能力，而不是這些所謂的“幸運”數字。就像俗話說的那樣——謀事在人，成事在天。