Mohit, who returned from a trip to China, noticed an interesting detail in the buildings: the fourth floor was missing from the elevators of some structures. He observed that after the third floor, the fifth number immediately followed. Furthermore, in several buildings, numbers containing the digit 4 were omitted, such as 14, 24, and 34.
Despite returning home, Mohit remained puzzled about the reason for excluding the number four from the numbering in some buildings. The answer lies not in engineering solutions but in ancient Chinese cultural and linguistic beliefs.
According to a report by the South China Morning Post (SCMP), many people in China consider the number 4 to be inauspicious. The main reason for this is related to pronunciation: in Mandarin Chinese, the number 4 is pronounced sì, which sounds very similar to the word sǐ, meaning 'death'. This phonetic similarity is considered the primary reason for the formation of the cultural belief regarding the number 4.
This superstition is not limited to the fourth floor; in some buildings, floors numbered 14, 24, and 34 are also intentionally excluded from the numbering. In such cases, the actual number of floors in the building may differ from the numbering displayed in the elevator. For example, where the fourth floor should be, the elevator might directly show the fifth number.
It is important to note that this is not a government regulation, and this practice is not applied to all buildings. Some owners and developers decide to exclude numbers with the digit 4, taking into account the cultural preferences and beliefs of the people.
In contrast to the negative perception of the number 4, the number 8 in China is often perceived as auspicious. This is also linked to language. Thus, in China, numbers are used not only for counting but also under the influence of their pronunciation and associated cultural concepts, which affects people's choices.
People also prefer auspicious numbers when choosing phone numbers, license plates, home addresses, or wedding dates. Therefore, if you next see the sequence 3 followed immediately by 5 in the elevator of a tall building in China, do not be surprised—the number 4 may have been excluded not for technical reasons, but due to an old cultural belief related to language.