Tibetan Lucky Number Culture

The odd numbers are always regarded as lucky number by local Tibetans. "6" is also regarded as a lucky number for it is the multiple of "3". Tibetans would always departure on odd days if they are planning to deal with some important matters. The Tibetan lucky number culture also reflected from their drinking customs. They would always clink their glasses for three times, three glasses of wine should be drunk after each clinking. Hence, they would always drink 9 glasses of wine once a clinking is proposed and they hold 9 glasses of wine should be the basic respect between friends.

During the celebration of Tibetan New Year, the lamas in the monasteries would present gift bags (filled with various dried fruits) for the living Buddhas and some eminent Buddhists in the monastery. The number of the gift bags would always be odd numbers and never be even numbers.

Local Tibetans would always connect the nice things with "3", such as the 3 Buddhas, 3 monasteries, 3 tribes and 3 sages. They also use "3" to express auspicious or some other lucky symbols, especially in Tibetan Buddhism culture, a lot of nouns use "3"as their affix. For example, "3" was used to symbolize the sun, moon and star. In Tibetan Buddhism, the universe is divided into 3 parts, the sky, ground and underground. The 3 Buddhas of Longevity refers to Amitayus Buddha, Ushnisha Vijaya and White Tara.

The odd number "9" means everything for local Tibetans. "9 rivers" means the place of all the rivers collected together. "9 people" means all living creatures. "9 needs" means all the needs and "9 wishes" means all the wishes. In a word, "9" is always used to express "much" in Tibetan. Actually, the use of "9" in Tibetan is quite similar to the use of "9" among the ancient Han people. In ancient times, Han people would also use "9" to express the meaning of uncertain, much or endless.

The odd number "13" might be regarded as an unlucky number in western countries. But it is really an auspicious number for local Tibetans. In the ancient Tibetan fairy tales, the heaven is composed of 13 layers. The 13th layer of the heaven is said to be the desireless pure land described by Master Tsongkhapa. Hence, "13" is really a sacred and lucky number in Tibet. Besides, the devout pilgrims would always make kora around Mt. Kailash for 13 rounds so as to pray for happiness and clean the guilty.