Expert: None Date: 1/4/2007 Subject: korean culture
Question I was born in Korea, but adopted and now live in the U.S. I was just wondering if Koreans consider anything symbolic(such as animals or numbers representing certain things). I know it's a pretty broad question and for that I apologize. For example, I know many Asian countries consider dragons to be symbols for luck and protection. I have several books on Korean culture but none of them have included any information on this particular subject. I want a tattoo and when people ask, I could tell them, "oh, Koreans consider this..." Thank you very much, and once again I apologize for lack of specificity.
Answer Hi Eric,
Happy New Year!
As Chinese people think dragons to be luck, Korea also think the same way. And in Korean, cranes should be considered as a long-life animal to 1000 years. Koreans like number 7 as a lucky 7 but 4 is bad for Koreans because four means death(as a Chinese character). Most of the Korean buildings have not 4th floor on the elevator buttons, which mostly describes F or 5. Magpie is one of the birds for Korean to be a good luck. Hearing some warbling from the trees or around the buildings, Korean should believe that someone who is very important comes to them to see.
