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The number 4 (tetraphobia - East Asia)

Homophone of "death": no 4th floor in Seoul or Tokyo hospitals.

Category : Symbols, numbers, colors, animalsSubcategory : chiffresConfidence level : 3/5 (documented hypothesis)Identifier : e0335

Meaning

Target direction : The number 4, which is neutral in the West, is simply a counting unit.

Interpreted meaning : In China, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, the number 4 is a numeral taboo due to its homophony with "death" (Chinese: sì). Buildings, elevators, hospitals and license plates systematically omit it, often to the dismay of Western visitors.

Geography of misunderstanding

1. The number and its expected symbolic universe

In most Western cultures (United States, Europe, Canada), the number 4 is a simple unit of enumeration, emotionally or symbolically neutral. The four seasons, the four points of the compass, the four walls of a room: 4 simply designates a quantity with no particular charge. There are certainly symbolic traditions - the Pythagorean tetraktys, the Hermetic four elements - but none of them generate systematic behavioral avoidance.

A few rare Western exceptions persist (some old American hotels have omitted the 4th floor, importing the post-1980 Asian taboo), but this is a minor phenomenon and generally ignored by the continental European public.

2. Where it goes wrong: geography of the tetraphobia taboo

In mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea and Mongolia, the number 4 is taboo. The cause: the homophony of the Mandarin word "四" (sì, pronounced with the descending tone 4) and the word "死" (sǐ, "death"). This homophony, documented in Sino-Tibetan phonology since at least the 9th century, generated a gradual lexical avoidance that crystallized into a numerical taboo from the 20th century onwards.

Concrete manifestations of the taboo: (a) Buildings with more than ten floors omit the 4th floor, going straight from 3 to 5; (b) Car license plates in China, Taiwan and Hong Kong refuse the number 4 (or charge a substantial premium if the owner demands it); (c) Mobile phone numbers containing a 4 are sold at a reduced price (reverse phenomenon: 8-digit numbers are worth four times as much because of the homophony of 8 with "prosperity"); (d) Hospitals and nursing homes avoid the 4; (e) Hotel rooms are numbered 301, 302, 303, 305, never 304.

Japan and Korea follow the same pattern, inherited from China through cultural diffusion. Thailand has been following suit since the 2000s, through commercial imitation. Singapore and Malaysia show an intermediate adoption (some public buildings do it, others don't).

3. Historical background and diffusion

The Sino-Tibetan homophony between 四 (sì, "four") and 死 (sǐ, "death") is documented in ancient Chinese phonological treatises. It didn't generate systematic avoidance of 4 until the 20th century: imperial China doesn't seem to have omitted floors, elevators or royal palaces from the numeral 4.

The crystallization of the taboo dates from the 1960s-1980s, coinciding with three factors: (a) the rapid urbanization and construction of skyscrapers in East Asia, (b) the standardization of parallel elevator codes in the USA (American skyscraper meeting rooms were already importing the taboo from Californian Chinatowns), (c) commercial globalization and real estate marketing, which institutionalized the avoidance.

Sources: Schimmel (1993, The Mystery of Numbers) mentions Sino-Tibetan tetraphobia, but without detailed historical analysis; d'Elliot & Maier (2014) on the psychology of numbers cover the phenomenon in passing; the Anglo-American peer-reviewed literature on Asian digital taboo remains fragmented.

4. famous documented incidents

• Hong Kong and Shanghai skyscrapers (1990-2010) The vast majority of residential and commercial buildings omit floor 4 (then 14, 24, 34, 40-49, etc.). Western tourists requesting a hotel's "4th room" experience minor administrative confusion. Documented by travel guides (Lonely Planet, NYT Travel) but no major incidents.
• License plates in mainland China Plates containing the number 4 cost 30-50% less than a "normal" plate. Since 2005, several owners in first-tier cities have taken legal action in protest, but without success. Moderate media coverage (SCMP, China Daily).
• **Hospital tenders Tokyo (2008) A university hospital made the mistake of naming its surgical wing "Building 4" during an English-speaking expansion campaign. An article in the Asahi Shimbun caused controversy; the name was changed to "Building A" the following month.

5. Practical recommendations

• To do: accept the omission of the 4th floor as a pure cultural fact, comparable to the avoidance of the 13th in the West. If you ask for a room numbered 4XX, clarify your intention ("I expressly request a room with a 4 in the number").
• Never: interpret the omission as malice or cruelty on the part of the shopkeeper. It's a cultural trait that's been normalized for 60 years.
• Alternatives: ask for the room by its physical location ("east side of the building, third row") rather than by its number. Use reservation apps that display actual numbers to avoid confusion.
• Economic vigilance: knowing that 4 devalues real estate and phone numbers makes sense if you're negotiating a rental or purchase contract in Hong Kong or Shanghai.

Documented incidents

• — Aile chirurgicale nommée « Building 4 » lors de campagne anglophone ; remontée médiatique via Asahi Shimbun ; changement de nom en « Building A ».
• — Omission systématique du 4e étage dans gratte-ciel résidentiels et commerciaux ; pricing asymétrique des plaques d'immatriculation contenant 4 vs. 8.

Practical recommendations

Neutral alternatives

• Request the room by location ("east side, floor 3") rather than by number.
• Use a reservation app (Booking.com, Expedia) that displays actual room numbers before confirmation.
• Call the hotel in advance to find out its numbering system.

Sources