In buildings, hospitals and elevators in South Korea, F is used instead of “4th floor”.
US President Donald Trump reached South Korea to attend the APEC Summit. To welcome him, South Korea presented a gold crown and awarded him the Grand Order of Mugunghwa, the country’s highest honour. This honor is given to very special personalities. South Korea also has many specialties of its own which surprise the people who come here and know this country. One such specialty is associated with number 4.
In other countries including India, 4 digits is a common number but in South Korea this number is considered very inauspicious. Many reasons are given behind this. Even in Korea the number 4 is not visible anywhere.
Why is the number 4 unlucky in South Korea?
In Korean language, the pronunciation of number 4 is similar to the pronunciation of death. Whenever someone pronounces the number 4 in Korean, it sounds like the pronunciation of death. In Korean, the word for four is pronounced ‘sa’, which is also the pronunciation of the hanja (Sino-Korean) character used for ‘death’. The number four is considered an unlucky number due to its phonetic similarity with misfortune and death.
What will you write if the house is on the number or fourth floor?
Now let us understand how the effect of number 4 is visible in everyday life. 4th floor is never written on buildings, hospitals and elevators in South Korea. The letter F is used there instead. This indicates that F is being used in place of 4. In this way the people there do not face 4. At some places, room numbers 4, 14, 24 etc. are also not kept.
In the lift, F is written instead of fourth floor.
How many countries have such tetraphobia?
This special kind of fear of number 4 is also called tetraphobia. Interestingly, there is fear regarding this number not only in Korea but also in China, Japan and Taiwan. People here believe that if you bring the number 4 into your life or buy anything related to it, bad luck comes. Illness or death may be imminent.
Then which is the most auspicious number?
The numbers 7 and 8 are considered the most auspicious among the people of South Korea. People here believe that numbers 7 and 8 symbolize success, prosperity and longevity. It is claimed that this trend started with the pronunciation of Chinese numbers. In ancient China, numbers were considered auspicious and inauspicious depending on their pronunciation. In Chinese, the pronunciation of four (四, sì) is similar to that of death (死, sǐ). Gradually this belief reached Korea, Japan and Vietnam. After this, when Korea adopted Chinese script (Hanja) and culture, this fear came from there and kept increasing among the people.
There is a belief in these countries that if a person’s age or house number ends with the digit 4, then that person will face bad times or diseases. Gradually, different thoughts of people started forming around this issue, which became deeper with time.
Also read: Rebellion or show of strength Who was Mahavat Khan who kidnapped the Mughal emperor?