Chinese Number Meanings 0–9

Sounds like: 你 you (love-code slang) · 灵 spirit, clever

Neutral. In love codes 0 stands for 你 “you” (520 = I love you). Numeric-domain traders value a leading 0 lower.

Sounds like: 要 want / will · 一 one, whole, first

Unity and a new start. In codes 1 often reads as 要 “want” (51 = 我要 I want).

Sounds like: 爱 love (in 520) · 易 easy

“Good things come in pairs” (好事成双). In 520 it carries 爱 “love”. Beware 250 (二百五) = “idiot”.

Sounds like: 生 life, birth · 想 miss / think of · 散 split up

Usually lucky: 生 “life”. In love codes 3 = 想 “miss you” (530). Lunar 3/3 is the Shangsi love festival.

Sounds like: 死 death · 世 lifetime (in 3344) · 是 is / yes

The most avoided digit: 四 sounds like 死 “death”. Buildings skip 4th floors; plates and phones with 4 sell cheaper. Exception: 3344 = 生生世世 “forever”.

Sounds like: 我 I / me · 无 without · 呜 sob (555)

Neutral. In codes 5 = 我 “I” (520). Linked to the Five Elements (五行).

Sounds like: 溜 smooth, skilful · 流 flow · 禄 fortune (regional)

Lucky: everything goes smoothly (六六大顺). Online, 666 = “awesome, well played”.

Sounds like: 亲 kiss / dear · 妻 wife · 起 rise · 气 anger · 去 go / gone

Mixed. Romantic in codes (770 = 亲亲你 kiss you) and the date of Qixi (7/7), but the 7th lunar month is Ghost Month and 748 is an insult.

Sounds like: 发 prosper, get rich · 拜 bye (88) · 抱 hug

China’s luckiest digit: 八 sounds like 发 “prosper”. The Beijing Olympics opened 8:08 pm on 8/8/2008; a Chengdu 8888-8888 phone number sold for ¥2.33M.

Sounds like: 久 long-lasting · 就 just / exactly · 救 save / help

Lucky: 久 “long-lasting”, prized for weddings and relationships. Historically linked to the emperor.