When the economy is bad we try to save on rent, and for the next school term, the supply of university dormitory beds does not meet demand. In spite of this, there are rumors that no one wants to sleep in bed no “4” at many universities.
In the 106 rooms at the National Taitung University Taitung campus, for example, bed “4” is empty in 44 rooms, and it becomes very obvious that the number is being avoided.
Some students think the word “four” (“si” in the fourth tone in Mandarin Chinese) sounds like “death” (“si” in the third tone) and is inauspicious and should be avoided if possible.
Many other universities say they have not heard that students complain that they are afraid of sleeping in bed “4”. Other students laugh and say that “We’ll laugh to ourselves if we get a bed. Who cares if it’s number four?” However, to avoid the taboo among students, Shih Hsin University skips the number “4,” and when building new dormitories, they simply mark the beds A, B, C and D.
Folk custom scholar Hsu Fu-quan says that there are many Chinese number taboos, but that “4” and “9” are the most important. Hospitals and hotels and other public spaces often ignore floor or room numbers with a “4” in them to avoid the inauspicious similarity to the word “death.” He says, however, that this was the first time he heard that this taboo even applies to bed numbers at student dormitories.
Hsu also says that in the past, the taboo surrounding the number “4” was most common in hospitals, since they deal with life and death. Today, this taboo seems to have been taken too far. It should be avoided in everything: car registrations, door numbers, floor numbers, ID card numbers and so on. Some people say that it’s mostly a matter of self deception, of keeping the mind at ease.
In the past, it was more common among Chinese people to regard the number “9” as taboo. The older generation, for example, do not celebrate their birthdays and men do not marry when their age includes a “9,” and any time they encounter the number “9,” older people are very careful to prevent any accidents from occurring.
(Liberty Times, Translated by Perry Svensson)
不景氣要省房租，新學期大學宿舍更是供不應求，卻傳出有�?j學「四」號床乏人問津。
像台東大學台東校區一○六個房間，就有四十四間房的四號床出現空床，避四情況非常明顯。
部分學生認為數字四與「死」諧音不吉利，能避則避。
其他大學則多表示沒聽過學生抱怨不敢睡四號床，還有學生笑說：「能抽中就偷笑了，哪管是不是四號床。」但世新大學為避免學生忌諱，編號直接跳過「四」，或建新宿舍時，乾脆改成Ａ、Ｂ、Ｃ、Ｄ床。
民俗學者徐福全指出，中國人有許多數字忌諱，其中最在意的就是四和九，醫院或旅館等公共空間，常會取消與四相關的樓層數或房號，避開不吉利諧音「死」。不過，他倒是頭一次聽到連學生宿舍床號都忌諱四。
徐福全指出，早期忌諱數字四，是以生死交關的醫院為主，現在社會似已過度解釋，車號、門牌、樓層、身分證號…統統不希望有四，有人認為這是掩耳盜鈴，求心安的成分居多。
倒是早年中國人逢九忌諱較多，例如長輩虛歲逢九不做壽、新郎虛歲逢九不結婚；只要逢九，長者在生活上都會特別謹慎小心，提防意外發生。（自由時報）
Photographer Franziska Stuenkel likes to take spontaneous urban shots, so she needs a nimble camera that is ready to go when inspiration strikes: her German-made Leica M11. “I have to be very quick and discreet,” said the Berlin-based artist who captures reflections of people walking past windows, their contours merging with the shapes behind the glass. Stuenkel’s compact Leica is the perfect camera for the job, the 51-year-old told AFP. Famous for its pocket-sized and retro-style devices, the Leica brand is celebrating a milestone as it marks 100 years since its first commercial camera was presented to the public. The
Picture a 45-foot-long animal with a 5-foot-long skull and 3-foot-long arms. It may not seem strange until you realize that a human with those proportions would be 6 feet tall with 5-inch arms. Although the Tyrannosaurus rex went extinct 65 million years ago, the mystery of its unusual body __1__ has fascinated scientists for over a century. Barnum Brown, the paleontologist who first discovered T. rex fossils, initially found it hard to believe that the tiny arms belonged to such a __2__ creature. One of his colleagues speculated that the short forelimbs might have been used to hold the
Dogs’ noses are incredibly keen. They can even detect changes in cortisol levels in human sweat and breath. Known as the “stress hormone,” cortisol increases when humans are under pressure. Recent research indicates that the smell of human stress can influence a dog’s behavior and emotions. In the study, human volunteers were exposed to the stressful tasks of preparing and delivering a speech on the spot and then solving math problems. __1__ Researchers collected sweat and breath samples from the volunteers on pieces of cloth during both their stressful and restful states. Meanwhile, other researchers worked with 18
As global travel rebounds following the COVID-19 pa ndemic, the longstanding issue of overtourism has returned stronger than ever. Throughout 2024, numerous popular destinations worldwide struggled with tourist numbers that far exceeded their infrastructural and environmental capacities. Not only does this surge congest streets and pollute landscapes, but it also endangers cultural sites and disrupts the daily lives of residents. In response to the growing problem of “overtourism,” various nations have adopted diverse strategies, some of which have sparked controversy. Venice, Italy, has not hesitated to take bold action; since 2024, the city has implemented one of the
RSS