Symbols, superstition and playing the numbers game
Updated: 2013-07-04 17:05
(China Daily)
|
|||||||||||
A license plate ending in 8888 costs 180,000 yuan to win a bid at an auction held in Xuchang, Henan province. Niu Shupei/For China Daily |
"We begin to treat symbols as the things themselves. So if you have eight with you on a license plate or in an address, it feels like having prosperity itself with you."
Amid China's growing economic wealth and people's scramble for a slice of the pie, such beliefs have become even more entrenched. Acquiring lucky numbers, researchers say, provides people with a sense of security and hope in the face of huge challenges to achieving success.
Chiu Chi-Yue, a social psychologist and business school professor at Singapore's Nanyang Technological University, calls this the belief in "negotiable fate". The term, he says, refers to the acceptance of one's fate as fixed and one's luck as malleable, which helps its subscribers remain hopeful in their pursuits.
"Although people cannot alter their fate, 'changing one's luck' through acquiring commodities associated with lucky numbers is within one's control," says Chiu, who has been studying this phenomenon for five years.
"As long as life's outcomes are believed to be determined jointly by one's fate and one's luck, people can maintain faith in lucky numbers' efficacy in achieving their valued goals."
The downside of this practice, he says, is that it can direct people's attention from more rational ways of overcoming obstacles and managing risks, like purchasing health insurance, seeking mentoring at work or accepting relationship counseling.
In matters of the heart, it turns out that Xiao Fan's pre-Valentine's Day proposal last year was all for show - a beautiful dress and event manufactured to put Chimelong Park in the headlines.
This is another problem with lucky numbers: They have gained such power in China that they can be exploited for commercial gain.
Niu Meng contributed to this report.
Related Stories
Chinese, Australian tourists drive record visitor numbers in New Zealand
2013-06-25 10:44
Top 10 best tourist destinations of China in 2012 2013-01-07 09:23
UK 'X Factor' Winner Regains Top Chart Spot 2013-01-05 15:32
Tourists enjoy cross talk in Tianjin during New Year's Day 2013-01-03 11:50
Vienna welcomes 2013 with New Year's Concert 2013-01-02 05:27
Chapter of Change 2012-12-29 13:21
Today's Top News
Shanghai gets go-ahead for free trade zone
Woman executed for drug trafficking
Shanghai gets go-ahead for free trade zone
Obama, Merkel agree talks on surveillance program
China urges more efficient uses of fiscal funds
Egypt army topples president Morsi
Pilot flight for Internet on Air China services
Frankfurt aims to be key yuan center
Hot Topics
Lunar probe , China growth forecasts, Emission rules get tougher, China seen through 'colored lens', International board,
Editor's Picks
Tunnel builders sweat it out on new rail line |
Graduates face grim hunt for job |
Parents learn a lesson on homes |
Taking the reins of great change |
Lifting the veil of feng shui |
A growing thirst for water safety |