Much like the Warner Brothers cartoon featuring Tweety and Sylvester upside-down in China, living here can leave one disoriented, confused and with a long-list of story worthy cross-cultural faux-pas under the belt. But, rather than noticing, discussing, and over hashing the obvious in our cultural differences, let’s go a little deeper. Something more explicit and secretive is lurking in the deep abyss that is China – cultural codes.
Chinese have a deeply rooted culturally coded system based on ancient ancestor worship, Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism, among others. Their religious philosophical tradition approaches the understanding of time and history in a circular rather than linear manner. Understanding the roots and contemporary manifestation of the most conspicuous of their codes can help one acclimatize to, and navigate, the minefield of cultural sensitivities.
Chinese culture codes have an underlying superstitious and symbolic nature. The predominant code in China is represented in the duality of the concept of “luck.” The nature of duality can best be seen in the contemporary use of homonyms and symbolism in colours, numbers, animals, plants, food and festivals. For all intents and purposes this article will focus on the most pertinent to day-to-day life and business interactions – namely, colours and numbers.
ROOTS OF THE CODE
Before we get to the fun stuff, let’s take a look at the origins of “The Code;” the Chinese religious and philosophical tradition and language structure. Chinese have culturally always been on the hunt for harmony – a balance between the forces of the cosmos, nature and the self. This quest for equilibrium can be traced back to the I-Ching or The Book of Changes, dating back to the Western Zhou Period 1000 B.C. This manual of divinations was a major source of influence for Confucianism and Taoism. It also provided the guiding principles of Yin and Yang that would be later represented in its modern form by the Taoist Taijitu.
Confucius, one of the founding fathers of contemporary Chinese thought and culture, emerged out of a period of great social and political instability. He established the blueprint of virtues and rituals to follow in order to maintain a stable and harmonious life. Confucius discouraged the pursuit of individual happiness and emphasized the importance of finding and fulfilling one’s role in society. The depth of his influence can be seen everywhere. Just think about the number of times you’ve heard a variation of the word Harmony since you’ve been living in China. Just to name a few, in the 1950s the PRC put forward the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence. In 2006, the concept of a “Harmonious Society” was incorporated into the Chinese government’s 11th five-year plan and the constitution of the CCP. Additionally, former and current Premiers and Presidents have used the word countless times in domestic and international speeches.
Lao Tze, founder of Taoism and the Taijitu (the Yin and Yang symbol), further developed the duality of finding peace within oppositional yet complimentary forces. In Chinese, Tao literally means “the way.” Dr. Paul T.P Wong, founder of the International Network on Personal Meaning and Professor Emeritus at Trent University in Toronto explains, “One of the profound insights of Lao Tze is the duality of nature. All things in nature exist in duality or polarity. The two opposites complement each other and make the existence of each other possible. Goodness does not exist without evil. Happiness does not exist without unhappiness.” In essence, this philosophy emerged as a coping mechanism for the hardships and uncertainties endured at the time, and continues to resonate today, not only in day-to-day life but also as the guiding principles of TCM, Chinese martial arts and many branches of classical Chinese Sciences.
These concepts blended with ancient ancestral worship, Buddhism and other philosophical traditions have helped shape contemporary Chinese Folk religion. But symbolism in China is two-fold. The Chinese language has an idiographic structure, using around 30,000 characters rather than letters. What’s more, verbs have no tenses, there are no definite articles, and nouns are void of singular and plural forms as well as objective and subjective cases. This means that the Chinese language is extremely contextual with precision difficult to achieve. The spoken and written language is full of nuances and homonyms, which makes reliance on symbolism both integral and unavoidable.
COLOURS
In China, a colour isn’t simply a colour. Decoding the colour symbolism is complex and contextual. This section will decipher some of the hidden meanings of colours in expressions, traditions, rituals and business interactions.
Red, yellow, white, black and qing (靑; a mix of blue and green) are viewed as the Five Standard Colours corresponding to the five elements of fire, earth, metal, water, and wood. According to the Chinese tradition and formally posited by Feng Shui, the cosmos mirrors the five elements. Consequently, the duality in meaning can be understood by the cyclical motion of the colours as they vary in shade and intensity.
Red
The most auspicious and popular colour in China. It corresponds to fire and is associated with summer. It symbolizes good fortune, wealth, joy, fame and life. It is especially prominent during the Chinese New Year and other celebrations. We can find it anywhere from the National flag, to imperial seals, wrappers, cards, firecrackers and underwear. Although red is the colour of communism, in China, it has no revolutionary undertones. In fact, the Communist Party, as well as companies like Coca Cola have benefited immensely from the auspiciousness of the colour.
Red underwear, or any red clothing for the modern Chinese, is popular during your unlucky year; the year that your zodiac sign matches the zodiac year. So wearing a red token everyday for that year is going to stave off any dangers that might fall upon you.
If you’re going to give a gift, it is best to wrap it in red or a variation of it, like pink. Although any bright colour is also acceptable – with the exception of white and black. Alternatively, you could drop the gift and go for the red envelope, or “Hóng bāo (红包)” and slip an even number of crisp red bills. However, if you plan to go to wedding, and you are an unmarried woman, do not wear red! It is considered bad luck and usually reserved for the bride and groom. If you are going to visit a sick friend at a hospital, refrain from bringing them red flowers. Red represents blood, life and happiness, and consequently is not appropriate. That is the very reason why red is strictly forbidden at a funeral. If you are going to send a card, write a note or a letter, make sure not to use red ink as it symbolizes the end of your relationship. It is especially important to refrain from writing a name in red as it was used for the names of the dead and is still considered highly offensive today. The colour red is so popular in China that it’s even become synonymous with the word! For example, Taylor Swift is very red! “fēicháng hóng (非常红)” means she is very popular or ‘cool.’ Similarly, you can express a business or individual’s success using the characters for red and fire – 可口可乐红红火火 – translating to Coca Cola is red red fire fire!
Yellow
The second most auspicious colour in China. It corresponds to the earth element and is associated with late summer and the time in between seasons. It is the emblematic colour of the five legendary emperors of Ancient China. Reserved for the emperor, any commoner caught wearing it would be put to death. It represents power, loyalty, prosperity, heroism, beauty and neutrality. It is also the colour of Buddhism, which postulates that yellow is symbolic of the Middle Path, the absence of extremes. Although this colour is highly auspicious in China, one must be weary of its use, especially in marketing and copy writing. Somewhere along the line in the 1930s, yellow began to be linked with pornography in publications. It is believed that the link was established with the introduction of the infamous “Yellow Book” quarterly periodical by Elkin Mathews and John Lane. In a nutshell, avoid using the colour as an adjective for a picture, book, movie or website!
White
The most inauspicious colour in China. It corresponds to the metal element and is associated with autumn. It symbolizes purity, fulfilment, death, mourning, ghosts, failure and stupidity. It is traditionally the colour worn at funerals, and the featured colour of rituals and ceremonies associated with the Qing Ming festival (Ghost Month). White envelopes, “Bái bǎo (白包)” are given to the family members of the deceased. It is for that reason that one must be cautious in the use of white as a dominant colour in marketing, gift giving, product launches and anything else demanding a positive connotation. Also, next time you meet someone who gets on your nerves, feel free to call them a white fool “Báichī (白痴)”, meaning an idiot.
Black
The second most inauspicious colour in China. It corresponds to the water element and is associated with winter. It symbolizes disasters, destruction, evil, cruelty, shadiness and illegality. Although recently, black is becoming fashionable among the younger generation, especially in first tiered cities, one should still refrain from using it as a dominant colour for auspicious occasions. Caution should also be exercised when using it as an adjective in copy writing and marketing materials. Never wrap a gift in black or offer a portrait with black borders as it signifies that they are dead and being memorialized.
The other colours all have special meanings of their own but the most relevant are red, yellow, white and black. Keep those rules in mind if you plan to live or do business in China.
NUMBERS
Numerology is ingrained within the daily life of the Chinese. Certain numbers are considered lucky, and others unlucky. People select lucky numbers when choosing phone numbers, addresses, floors, wedding dates, bank accounts and driver’s licences. The two luckiest numbers in china are 8 and 9. 8 “bā” (八) is a homonym to the word meaning expand “fā” (发), as in “fā cái” (发财), to expand in wealth. Whereas 9 “jiǔ” (九), sounds like the word for “sufficient” or “permanence”. 9 was historically associated with the Emperor of China and prominent in Chinese mythology. When combined with the number 8 its auspiciousness increases, as it now means amassing long lasting wealth.
Numerical superstitions even affect the capital market and play a role in Chinese investors’ decisions. Economists from UC Irvine and the Nanyang Business School looked at the Chinese IPO market in a 2012 paper. They found that “the frequency of lucky numerical stock listing codes exceeds what would be expected by chance” and that “newly listed firms with lucky listing codes are initially traded at a premium.”
People are also willing and ready to pay large amounts of money to secure an auspicious phone or licence plate number. In 2003, Sichuan Airlines purchased the rights to the number 8888 8888 at an auction for RMB 2.33 million.
Conversely, the number 4, or “sì (四)”, sounds a lot like the word for death “sǐ (死)” and consequently considered highly inauspicious. Many numbered product lines, and high-rise residential or commercial buildings avoid the number 4. In fact, studies have also shown an association between lower returns on US commodities purchased by China on days with the number 4. In an article about lucky numbers in daily life, Xinhua News pointed out that the younger generation tend to gravitate towards avoidance of unlucky numbers rather than the pursuit of lucky ones. Caution should be exercised when using this number in advertising, marketing, or day-to-day interactions. Chinese try to avoid this number as much as possible. Also, other numbers, including number combinations have their own connotations.
Although the first tiered cities are more forgiving to the foreigners’ lack of knowledge about Chinese beliefs and practices, there is nonetheless a subconscious association present with these colours and numbers. The degree to which “the code” is followed also may vary from region to region. As a rule of thumb, the more south you go the greater the proclivity to “the code.” As Lao Tze once said, “fortune owes its existence to misfortune, and misfortune is hidden in fortune.”
This article was first published in The Nanjinger Magazine, November 2015 Issue. If you would like to read the whole magazine, please follow this link.
