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Unit 7 Numbers and Omens Lecturer: Zhang Jianghua Date: April 10, 2012 Pre-reading Question Numbers play an important role in Chinese culture and the use of numbers can be found in almost every aspect of people’s lives. At weddings, at funerals, in daily life and even in business, numbers, auspicious or ominous, may influence people’s choice or decision. Could you tell us some stories or words that are closely related to numbers in your life？ Do you believe in them? Background Information The number 13 has been unlucky for centuries. Some historians peg the superstition to the 13 people who attended the Last Supper (neither Jesus nor Judas came out of that one O.K.), but ancient Babylon’s Code of Hammurabi omits the number 13 in its list of laws, so the superstition dates back to at least 1700 BC. Thirteen is so unlucky, in fact, that in 1881 an organization called the Thirteen Club attempted to improve the number’s reputation. At the first meeting, the members (all 13 of them) walked under ladders to enter a room covered with spilled salt. The club lasted for many years and grew to more than 400 members, including five U.S. Presidents: Chester Arthur, Grover Cleveland, Benjamin Harrison, William McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt. Despite the club’s efforts, triskaidekaphobia (that’s fear of the number 13) flourished; even today, most tall buildings don’t have a 13th Floor. The Number Zero —Endless Perfection Chinese: The void. Kabbalism: Boundless, no limits. 卡拉巴教 Pythagorean: Pythagoras saw zero as representing the perfect number. 毕达哥拉斯哲学 One The Beginning Chinese: One is an auspicious yang number; both masculine and celestial in nature. Represents the seed of conception.Christianity: God the FatherPythagorean: One is the Source of all things. Two —Duality The number two represents the duality of the Universe. Night and day, black and white, good and evil. Chinese: Depending on the region, two is seen as either auspicious