Chinese superstitions and taboos, and the words behind them
Most of them are puns. Learn the sounds and you can guess the taboo.
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Unlucky numbers
四 (sì) and 死 (sǐ) differ only in tone, so many people avoid phone numbers and addresses with a 4, and some buildings have no floor numbered 4; in Mandarin, 14 (十四, shísì) is thought worse, because it sounds like 是死 (shì sǐ), “is dead”2. Money in a red envelope avoids 4 too, and favours amounts ending in 8 (八, bā), which sounds like 发 (fā), “to prosper”4. Our guide to Chinese lucky numbers has every number and what it sounds like.
我奶奶有点儿迷信。
to have blind faith in
Gifts never to give
| Gift | Chinese | Why |
|---|---|---|
| a clock | 送钟 sòng zhōng | sounds like 送终 sòngzhōng, being with someone as they die |
| an umbrella or a fan | 伞 sǎn, 扇 shàn | sound like 散 sàn, to part, to break up |
| pears | 梨 lí | sounds like 离 lí, to leave, to separate |
| a green hat | 戴绿帽子 dài lǜ màozi | “to wear a green hat” means your partner is cheating on you |
| knives or scissors | 刀 dāo, 剪刀 jiǎndāo | sharp things cut a tie |
| a mirror | 镜子 jìngzi | on the New Year list of gifts to avoid |
| shoes | 鞋 xié | walking away from a relationship |
| white or black things, chrysanthemums | 白 bái, 菊花 júhuā | they belong to funerals |
The clock, umbrella and pear are puns1; the rest are the gifts the New Year customs list as taboo4. Gamblers in many places don’t carry a book, 书 (shū), which sounds like 输 (shū), “to lose”1. Our guide to Chinese etiquette has the gifts to bring instead.
New Year taboos
The house is cleaned from top to bottom before New Year, to sweep out the old year’s bad luck. Then, on New Year’s Day, the broom stays put, along with knives and the stove: using a broom, cutting, lighting a fire, swearing and breaking dishes are all taboo, so the food is cooked the day before4. The fish at the New Year’s Eve dinner is left partly uneaten, because 鱼 (yú) sounds like 余 (yú), “surplus”: 年年有余, “plenty every year”43.
The Ghost Month
The seventh month of the Chinese calendar is the Ghost Month, with the Ghost Festival, 中元节, on its fifteenth day. Spirits are believed to roam, so many families avoid big steps until it ends5:
- getting married or engaged, moving house, starting a business or signing a contract;
- travelling, and big purchases like a car or a home;
- staying out late, above all children and the old, and whistling at night;
- leaving clothes out overnight, since their human shape may invite spirits, and wearing black.
Our Chinese calendar shows when the seventh month falls this year.
Lucky signs
Luck works by sound too. The upside-down 福 (fú, good fortune) on a door at New Year says “fortune has arrived”3. White and black belong to funerals, which is why they are not given as gifts4; our guide to Chinese colors and their meanings has the rest. And at a wedding, the bride and groom may exchange chopsticks, 筷子 (kuàizi), which sounds like 快子 (kuài zǐ), “a son soon”3.
Words to know
- 迷信 (míxìn): superstition; superstitious.
- 吉利 (jílì): lucky, auspicious; 不吉利 (bù jílì): unlucky.
- 忌讳 (jìhuì): a taboo; to avoid as a taboo.
- 谐音 (xiéyīn): a word that sounds like another, the reason behind most of the list.
The Chinese homophones list has more words that sound alike, and the extension gives the pinyin and meaning of any Chinese word you meet online.
Questions
What are the most common Chinese superstitions?
Avoiding the number 4, which sounds like death; never giving a clock, an umbrella or pears, which sound like a funeral, parting and separation; not sweeping on New Year’s Day; and avoiding weddings and moves in the seventh, or Ghost, month.
Why is giving a clock bad luck in China?
送钟 (sòng zhōng, to give a clock) sounds just like 送终 (sòngzhōng), to be with someone as they die, and a clock also says time is running out.
Why can’t you sweep on Chinese New Year?
The house is cleaned before New Year to sweep out the old year’s bad luck; on New Year’s Day the broom is put away, so the new year’s luck isn’t swept out too.
What should you not do during Ghost Month?
Traditionally: marry, move house, start a business, sign contracts, travel or make big purchases, stay out late, whistle at night, or leave clothes out overnight.
Sources
Checked on 28 October 2026. Prices and features change; tell us if one has.
- Wikipedia: Faux pas derived from Chinese pronunciation (clocks, umbrellas, pears)
- Wikipedia: Tetraphobia (四 and 死, 14 in Mandarin, buildings with no 4th floor)
- Wikipedia: Homophonic puns in Standard Chinese (149 characters read yì, fish and 余, bats and 福, the upside-down 福)
- Wikipedia: Chinese New Year, symbolic foods (fish for 余)
- Wikipedia: Ghost Festival (the seventh month and what people avoid in it)