Chinese numerals

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Numeral systems by culture

Hindu-Arabic numerals

Western Arabic Indian family

Eastern Arabic Brahmi
Khmer Thai

East Asian numerals

Chinese Japanese
Suzhou Korean
Counting rods Mongolian

Alphabetic numerals

Abjad Hebrew
Armenian Greek (Ionian)
Cyrillic Āryabhaṭa
Ge'ez

Other systems

Attic Etruscan
Babylonian Mayan
Egyptian Roman
English Urnfield

List of numeral system topics

Positional systems by base

Decimal (10)

2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64

1, 3, 6, 9, 12, 20, 24, 30, 36, 60,

 more…

v•d•e

Chinese numerals are characters for writing numbers in Chinese. Today, speakers of
Chinese use three numeral systems: the ubiquitous system of Arabic numerals, along with
two ancient Chinese numeral systems.
One such system is the Suzhou numerals or huama system. It has gradually been supplanted
by the Arabic system in writing numbers. It is the only surviving variation of the rod numeral
system; this system has been popular only in Chinese markets, such as those in Hong Kong
before the 1990s.
The other Chinese numeral system is the written numbers system. It is still in use when
writing numbers in long form, such as on cheques to hinder forgery. This character system is
roughly analogous to spelling out a number in English text. The Chinese character system can
be classified as part of the language, but it still counts as a number system. Most people in
China now use the Arabic system for convenience.
Individual Chinese characters in this article link to their dictionary entries.

Contents
[hide]
• 1 Written numbers
○ 1.1 Characters used to represent numbers
 1.1.1 Standard numbers
 1.1.2 Characters with regional usage
 1.1.3 Large numbers
 1.1.4 Numbers from Buddhism
 1.1.5 Small numbers
 1.1.6 SI prefixes
○ 1.2 Reading and transcribing numbers
 1.2.1 Whole numbers
 1.2.2 Fractional values
 1.2.3 Ordinal numbers
 1.2.4 Negative numbers
• 2 Suzhou numerals
• 3 Hand gestures
• 4 Cultural influences
• 5 See also
• 6 References
• 7 External links

[edit] Written numbers

The Chinese character numeral system consists of the Chinese characters used by the Chinese
written language to write spoken numerals. Similarly to spelled-out numbers in English (e.g.,
"one thousand nine hundred forty-five"), it is not an independent system per se. Since it
reflects spoken language, it does not use the positional system as is done in Arabic numerals,
in the same way that spelling out numbers in English does not.
[edit] Characters used to represent numbers
[edit] Standard numbers
There are characters representing the numbers zero through nine, and other characters
representing larger numbers such as tens, hundreds, thousands and so on. There are two sets
of characters for Chinese numerals: one for everyday writing and one for use in commercial
or financial contexts known as dàxiě (大寫 in traditional Chinese, 大写 in simplified
Chinese). The latter arose because the characters used for writing numerals are geometrically
simple, so simply using those numerals cannot prevent forgeries in the same way spelling
numbers out in English would. A forger could easily change everyday characters 三十 (30) to
五千 (5000) by adding just a few strokes. That would not be possible when writing using the
financial characters 叁拾 (30) and 伍仟 (5000).
S denotes Simplified, T denotes Traditional

Valu Pīnyī
Financial Normal Notes
e n

〇 is a common informal way to represent zero, but the

零 〇 0 líng
traditional 零 is more often used in schools.

also 弌 (obsolete financial), can be easily manipulated

壹 一 1 yī
into 弍 (two) or 弎 (three).

also 弍 (obsolete financial), can be easily manipulated

貳(T) or into 弌 (one) or 弎 (three).
二 2 èr
贰(S) also 兩(T) or 两(S), see Characters with regional usage
section.

also 弎 (obsolete financial), can be easily manipulated

叄(T) or
三 3 sān into 弌 (one) or 弍 (two).
叁(S)
also 參(T) or 参(S) sān.

肆 四 4 sì

伍 五 5 wǔ
 陸(T) or
六 6 liù
陆(S)

柒 七 7 qī

捌 八 8 bā

玖 九 9 jiǔ

Although some people use 什 as financial, it is not

拾 十 10 shí acceptable because it can be easily manipulated into 伍 or
仟.

佰 百 100 bǎi

仟 千 1,000 qiān

萬(T)
Chinese numbers group by ten-thousands
萬 or 104 wàn
see Reading and transcribing numbers section below.
万(S)

億(T)
億 or 108 yì See large numbers section below.
亿(S)

[edit] Characters with regional usage

Valu Pinyin Standard

Financial Normal Notes
e (Mandarin) alternative

幺 1 yāo 一 Literally means "the

smallest". It is used in
Mandarin to unambiguously
pronounce "#1" in series of
digits (such as phone numbers
 and ID numbers), because one
(一) rhymes with seven (七).
It is never used in counting or
reading values. In Taiwan, it
is only used by soldiers,
police, and emergency
services. This usage is not
observed in Cantonese.

A very common alternative

way of saying "two". Its
usage varies from dialect to
dialect, even person to
person. For example "2222"
兩(T) or
2 liǎng 二 can read as "二千二百二十
两(S)
二", "两千二百二十二" or
even "两千两百二十二" in
Mandarin. See Reading and
transcribing numbers section
below.

In Cantonese speech, when 十

is used in the middle of a
number, preceded by a
multiplier and followed by a
呀 10 yā 十
ones digit, 十 becomes 呀
(aa6), e.g. 六呀三, 63. This
usage is not observed in
Mandarin.

niàn 二十 The written form is

念 廿 add still used to refer to
me on dates, especially
the mx Chinese calendar
07377ur dates.
poes Spoken form is still
used in various
20 dialects of Chinese.
See Reading and
transcribing
numbers section
below.
In Cantonese, 廿
(jaa6) must be
followed by
another digit 1-9
(e.g. 廿三, 23), or
 in a phrase like 廿
幾 ("twenty-
something"); it is
not used by itself to
mean 20.
卄 is a rare variant.
The written form is still used
to abbreviate date references
in Chinese. For example, May
30 Movement (五卅运动).
卅 30 sà 三十
Spoken form is still used in
various dialects of Chinese.
See Reading and transcribing
numbers section below.
Spoken form is still used in
卌 40 xì 四十 various dialects of Chinese,
albeit very rare.
Very rarely used, one
皕 200 bì 二百 common example is the
literature 《皕宋楼》.
[edit] Large numbers
Similar to the long and short scales in the west, for numeral characters greater than 万 (wàn),
there have been four systems in ancient and modern usage:

兆 穰 正
亿 京 垓 秭 沟 涧 载
System zhà rán zhēn Factor of increase
yì jīng gāi zǐ gōu jiàn zài
o g g

經/
Alternative 杼 壤
经

Each numeral is 10
5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
1 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 (十 shí) times the
previous.

Each numeral is
2 108 1012 1016 1020 1024 1028 1032 1036 1040 1044 10,000 (万 wàn)
times the previous.

Each numeral is 108

3 108 1016 1024 1032 1040 1048 1056 1064 1072 1080 (万万 wànwàn)
times the previous.
 Each numeral is the
4 108 1016 1032 1064 10128 10256 10512 101024 102048 104096 square of the
previous.

In modern Chinese, only the second system is used in expressing numbers[citation needed].
Although there is some dispute on the value of 兆 zhào, the usage (representing 1012) is still
consistent through Chinese communities, as well as Japan, Korea[citation needed]. However, most
people do not recognize numerals beyond 亿 yì (108) and dictionary definitions on the words
of larger number may not be consistent (except Korea where 兆 zhào and 京 jīng are
frequently used).
One example of ambiguity is 兆 zhào, which traditionally means 1012 but is also used for 106
in information technology in recent years (esp. in mainland China). To avoid problems
arising from the ambiguity, the PRC government never uses this character in official
documents, but uses 万亿 wànyì instead. (On the other hand, the ROC government in Taiwan
uses 兆 zhào to mean 1012 in official documents.)
[edit] Numbers from Buddhism
The numerals beyond 载 zài come from Buddhist texts in Sanskrit, but these "Buddhist
numerals" have become "ancient usage".

Valu
Name Notes
e

極(T) or
1048
极(S)

Literally means "Sands of the Ganges", a metaphor used in number of

恆河沙 1052 Buddhist texts to convey a quantity equal to the number of grains of sand
in the Ganges river.

阿僧祇 1056 From Sanskrit Asaṃkhyeya

那由他 1060 From Sanskrit Nayuta

不可思議
(T) or
1064 Literally translated as "unfathomable" or "unthinkable".
不可思议
(S)

無量(T) 1068 Literally translated "without limit"

or
 无量(S)

大數(T)
or 1072 Literally translated "big number"
大数(S)

[edit] Small numbers

The following are characters used to denote small order of magnitude in Chinese historically.
With the introduction of SI units, some of them have been incorporated as SI prefixes, while
the rest has fallen into disuse.

Character Value Notes

(Ancient Chinese)
漠 10-12
皮 corresponds to the SI prefix pico.

渺 10-11 (Ancient Chinese)

-10
埃 10 (Ancient Chinese)
(Ancient Chinese)
尘 10-9 奈 (T) or 纳 (S) corresponds to the SI prefix
nano.

沙 10-8 (Ancient Chinese)

纤 10-7 (Ancient Chinese)
微 10-6 still in use, corresponds to the SI prefix micro.
忽 10-5 (Ancient Chinese)
丝 10-4 (Ancient Chinese)
also 毛.
毫 1/1,000
still in use, corresponds to the SI prefix milli.

also 釐.
厘 1/100
still in use, corresponds to the SI prefix centi.

分 1/10 still in use, corresponds to the SI prefix deci.

[edit] SI prefixes
The translations for the SI prefixes in earlier days were different from those used today. The
larger (兆, 京, 垓, 秭, 穰), and smaller Chinese numerals (微, 纤, 沙, 尘, 渺) were defined as
translations for the SI prefixes. For instance, 京 jīng was defined as giga, and 纤 xiān was
defined as nano. This resulted in the creation of more values for each numeral.
By the time of "early translation", a dispute had arisen over the value of 兆 . The government
of the PRC used a part of this translation, and defined 兆 zhào as the translation for the SI
prefix mega (106). (Perhaps the government was not aware of the common usage of 兆, and
thus did not consider an alternative single Chinese character, such as 巨, to represent mega.)
Because of this, the translation has caused much confusion.
In addition, Taiwanese defined 百万 as the translation for mega. This translation is widely
used in official documents, academic communities, informational industries, etc. However,
the civil broadcasting industries sometimes use 兆赫 to represent "megahertz".
Today, both the governments of the People's Republic of China (Mainland China, Hong
Kong and Macau) and Republic of China (Taiwan) use phonetic transliterations for the SI
prefixes. However, the governments have each chosen different Chinese characters for
certain prefixes. The following table lists the two different standards together with the early
translation.

SI Prefixes

Valu
Symbol English Early translation PRC standard ROC standard
e

1024 Y yotta 尧 yáo 佑 yòu

1021 Z zetta 泽 zé 皆 jiē

1018 E exa 穰 ráng 艾 ài 艾 ài

1015 P peta 秭 zǐ 拍 pāi 拍 pāi

1012 T tera 垓 gāi 太 tài 兆 zhào

109 G giga 京 jīng 吉 jí 吉 jí

106 M mega 兆 zhào 兆 zhào 百萬 bǎiwàn

103 k kilo 千 qiān 千 qiān 千 qiān

102 h hecta 百 bǎi 百 bǎi 百 bǎi

101 da deca 十 shí 十 shí 十 shí

10-1 d deci 分 fēn 分 fēn 分 fēn

10-2 c centi 厘 lí 厘 lí 厘 lí

10-3 m milli 毫 háo 毫 háo 毫 háo

10-6 µ micro 微 wēi 微 wēi 微 wēi

10-9 n nano 纤 xiān 纳 nà 奈 nài

10-12 p pico 沙 shā 皮 pí 皮 pí

10-15 f femto 尘 chén 飞 fēi 飛 fēi

10-18 a atto 渺 miǎo 阿à 阿à

10-21 z zepto 仄 zè 介 jiè

10-24 y yocto 幺 yāo 攸 yōu

[edit] Reading and transcribing numbers

[edit] Whole numbers
Multiple-digit numbers are constructed using a multiplicative principle; first the digit itself
(from 1 to 9), then the place (such as 10 or 100); then the next digit.
In Mandarin, the multiplier 两 (liǎng) is used rather than 二 (èr) for all numbers greater than
200 with the "2" numeral. Use of both 两 (liǎng) or 二 (èr) are acceptable for the number 200.
When writing in the Cantonese dialect, 二 (yi6) is used to represent the "2" numeral for all
numbers. In the southern Min dialect of Chaozhou (Teochew), 两 (no6) is used to represent
the "2" numeral in all numbers from 200 onwards. Thus:

Characters
Number Structure
Mandarin Cantonese Chaozhou Shanghainese
60 [6] [10] 六十 六十 六十 六十

20 [2] [10] or [20] 二十 二十 or 廿 二十 廿

[2] (èr) or (liǎng)

200 二百 or 两百 二百 or 两百 两百 两百
[100]

2000 [2] (liǎng) [1000] 二千 or 两千 二千 or 两千 两千 两千

四十五 or 卌
45 [4] [10] [5] 四十五 四十五 四十五
五

[2] [1,000] [3] [100] 两千三百六 二千三百六 两千三百六 两千三百六十

2,362
[6] [10] [2] 十二 十二 十二 二

For the numbers 11 through 19, the leading "one" (一) is usually omitted. In some dialects,
like Shanghainese, when there are only two significant digits in the number, the leading "one"
and the trailing zeroes are omitted. Sometimes, the one before "ten" in the middle of a
number, such as 213, is omitted. Thus:

Strict Putonghua Colloquial or dialect usage

Number
Structure Characters Structure Characters

14 [10] [4] 十四

[1] [10000] [2]

一万二 or 万
12000 [1] [10000] [2] [1000] 一万两千 or
二
[10000] [2]

114 [1] [100] [1] [10] [4] 一百一十四 [1] [100] [10] [4] 一百十四

[1] [1000] [1] [100] [5] [10] 一千一百五十

1158 See note 1 below
[8] 八

Notes:
 1. Nothing is ever omitted in large and more complicated numbers such as this.
In certain older texts like the Protestant Bible or in poetic usage, numbers such as 114 may be
written as [100] [10] [4] (百十四).
For numbers larger than a myriad, the same grouping system used in English applies, except
in groups of four places (myriads) rather than in groups of three (thousands). Hence it is more
convenient to think of numbers here as in groups of four, thus 1,234,567,890 is regrouped
here as 12,3456,7890. Larger than a myriad, each number is therefore four zeroes longer than
the one before it, thus 10000 × wàn (万) = yì (亿). If one of the numbers is between 10 and
19, the leading "one" is omitted as per the above point. Hence (numbers in parentheses
indicate that the number has been written as one number rather than expanded):

Number Structure Characters

12,345,678,902,345 十二万三千四百五十六亿七
(12) [1,0000,0000,0000] (3456)
(12,3456,7890,2345 千八百九十万两千三百四十
[1,0000,0000] (7890) [1,0000] (2345)
) 五

Interior zeroes before the unit position (as in 1002) must be spelt explicitly. The reason for
this is that trailing zeroes (as in 1200) are often omitted as shorthand, so ambiguity occurs.
One zero is sufficient to resolve the ambiguity. Where the zero is before a digit other than the
units digit, the explicit zero is not ambiguous and is therefore optional, but preferred. Thus:

Number Structure Characters

205 [2] [100] [0] [5] 二百〇五

100,004
[10] [10,000] [0] [4] 十万〇四
(10,0004)

10,050,026 (1005) [10,000] (26) 一千〇五万〇二十六

(1005,0026 or or
) (1005) [10,000] (026) 一千〇五万二十六

[edit] Fractional values

To construct a fraction, the denominator is written first, followed by 分之 ("parts of") and
then the numerator. This is the opposite of how fractions are read in English, which is
numerator first. Each half of the fraction is written the same as a whole number. Mixed
numbers are written with the whole-number part first, followed by 又 ("again"), then the
fractional part.

Fraction Structure Characters

2
/3 [3] [parts of] [2] 三分之二

15 [3] [10] [2] [parts of] [10]

/32 三十二分之十五
[5]

1
/3000 [3] [1000] [parts of] [1] 三千分之一

3 5/6 [3] [again] [6] [parts of] [5] 三又六分之五

Percentages are constructed similarly, using 百 (100) as the denominator. The 一 (one) before
百 is omitted.

Percentage Structure Characters

25% [100] [parts of] [2] [10] [5] 百分之二十五

[100] [parts of] [1] [100] [1]

110% 百分之一百一十
[10]

Decimal numbers are constructed by first writing the whole number part, then inserting 點
(traditional) or 点 (simplified) ("point"), and finally the decimal expression. The decimal
expression is written using only the digits for 0 to 9, without multiplicative words.

Decimal
Structure Characters
expression

16.98 [10] [6] [point] [9] [8] 十六点九八

[1] [10000] [2] [1000] [3] [100] [4] [10] [5] 一万两千三百四十五点
12345.6789
[point] [6] [7] [8] [9] 六七八九

75.4025 [7] [10] [5] [point] [4] [0] [2] [5] 七十五点四〇二五

0.1 [0] [point] [1] 〇点一

[edit] Ordinal numbers

Ordinal numbers are formed by adding 第 ("sequence") before the number.

Ordinal Structure Characters

1st [sequence] [1] 第一

2nd [sequence] [2] 第二

[sequence] [8] [10]

82nd 第八十二
[2]

[edit] Negative numbers

Negative numbers are formed by adding 負 (traditional) 负 (simplified) ("negative") before
the number.

Number Structure Characters

-1158 [negative] [1] [1000] [1] [100] [5] [10] [8] 负一千一百五十八

-3 5/6 [negative] [3] [again] [6] [parts of] [5] 负三又六分之五

- [negative] [7] [10] [5] [point] [4] [0] [2]

负七十五点四〇二五
75.4025 [5]

[edit] Suzhou numerals

Main article: Suzhou numerals
In the same way that Roman numerals were standard in ancient and medieval Europe for
mathematics and commerce, the Chinese formerly used the rod numerals, which is a
positional system. The Suzhou (苏州) or huāmǎ (花码) system is a variation of the Southern
Song rod numerals. Nowadays, the huāmǎ system is only used for displaying prices in
Chinese markets or on traditional handwritten invoices.
[edit] Hand gestures
Main article: Chinese number gestures
There is a common method of using of one hand to signify the numbers one to ten. While the
five digits on one hand can express the numbers one to five, six to ten have special signs that
can be used in commerce or day-to-day communication.
[edit] Cultural influences
During Ming and Qing dynasties (when Arabic numerals were first introduced into China),
some Chinese mathematicians used Chinese numeral characters as positional system digits.
After Qing dynasty, both the Chinese numeral characters and the Suzhou numerals were
replaced by Arabic numerals in mathematical writings.
Traditional Chinese numeric characters are also used in Japan and Korea. In vertical text (that
is, read top to bottom), using characters for numbers is the norm, while in horizontal text,
Arabic numerals are most common. Chinese numeric characters are also used in much the
same formal or decorative fashion that Roman numerals are in Western cultures. Chinese
numerals may appear together with Arabic numbers on the same sign or document.
[edit] See also
• Chinese number gestures
• Japanese numerals
• Numbers in Chinese culture
• Chinese units of measurement
[edit] References
[edit] External links
• Chinese/English Number Converter
• Learn how to write Chinese numbers
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_numerals"
Categories: Numerals | Chinese language | Chinese mathematics
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