Superstition causes change in Taiwan ID card numbers with "4"

Jan 26, 2008, 7:01 GMT

Taipei - Taiwan's ID card numbers will no longer have more than one number 4 in the future, as Taiwanese believe 4 brings bad luck, local press said on Saturday.

The Interior Ministry announced new rules concerning changing ID card numbers containing the numeral 4 after receiving complaints from residents who fear that 4 - whose Chinese Mandarin pronunciation 'si' is the same as the word for death - will bring them bad luck. The ID card numbers of some residents have four 4s.

The ministry said it has stopped issuing ID cards ending in 4 in 2000, and starting from now, will no longer issue ID card numbers with more than two 4s.

The ministry in addition is to change the ID card numbers of people whose card numbers have three or four 4s.

However, the ministry has rejected the call to remove 4s altogether from ID card numbers because that could encourage superstition and require changes in 45 per cent of Taiwan's ID cards.

For Chinese all over the world, 4 is an unlucky number while 6 and 8 are lucky numbers.

In Taiwan, many apartment and office buildings do not have fourth floors, which are either skipped or called the '3 Plus' floor.

When Chinese visit friends or relatives, they avoid bringing four gifts, like four apples or four melons.