Tell 618's Meaning in Chinese and Culture

What Is the “618” meaning in Chinese?

“618”的中文含义是？

The “618” is one of the common homophonous digital combinations in China. Not only as a three-digit number, it is more related to the date of June 18.

618 是中国常见的一组谐音数字组合。它不仅仅是一个三位数，更多与日期 6 月18 日这一天相关。

It's because that the reading and writing regulations for time & date in Chinese follows the order like Year – Month – Date – Hour – Minute – Second. Following the common Chinese way to speak the number 618, the figures in 618 in Chinese should be read separately, one-by-one reading from the left highest place to the right lowest, which is right to comply with the order of the date reading in Chinese. Then 618 is consequently easy to be associated with the date of June 18 in China.

在中文里，时间和日期读写顺序通常依次为 年 – 月 – 日 – 时 – 分 – 秒。用常见的中文读法读 618，从高位向低位（即从左往右）依次读出每个数字，正好与 6 月 18 日的中文日期对应，因此，在中国，数字 618 很容易让人联想到 6 月 18 日 这一天。

Digitals in 618 and Their Meanings in Chinese

618 中三个数字各自代表的含义

From the formation, the number 618 is consist of three numbers, two of which are considered very lucky numbers by the Chinese.

从表面上数字的构成来看，数字组合 618 中包含了 2 个被中国人视为十分吉利的数字 6 和 8。

Figure 6 Meaning in Chinese

数字 6 的中文含义

The figure 6, written as “六 (liù)” in the simplified Chinese, stands for “smoothly and going well”. For example, there is a popular Chinese idiom known as “六六大顺 (liù liù dà shùn)”, which is always used to wish other and everything goes well, especially on successful business or career development.

其中，数字 6，在中国汉语里写作 “六”，象征着“顺利”，如中国有一个常用成语叫 “六六大顺”，是用来祝福他人万事顺利、事业大吉大利的祝福语。

Figure 8 Meaning in Chinese

数字 8 的中文含义

Secondly, the figure 8 is pronounced in Chinese similar to the character “发 (fā)” in the Chinese word “发财 (fā cái)”, which means to get rich. So the figure 8 in China always means to “get rich”, “business goes with success and prosperity” or “be rich and powerful”.

其次，数字 8 在中文里的发音类似词语“发财”中的 “发”字，因此，数字 8 在中国寓意着“发财”、“发达”和“富贵”。

Figure 1 Meaning in Chinese

数字 1 的中文含义

Moreover, the central figure 1 among 618 is usually read as “yāo” in the spoken of Chinese numbers, although it is written as “一 (yī)” in the simplified Chinese. And the pronunciation of “yāo” is much similar to a Chinese word “要 (yào)” meaning want to/will, or similar to “又 (yòu)” with a meaning of and/in addition to.

另外，当数字 1 作为数字时，中国人在口头上通常将 1 读作“yāo”，并非采用汉字“一”的标准读音“yī”。而“yāo”的谐音又类似中国汉字里的“要”或“又”。

Therefore, after linking two lucky number 6 to 8 together with 1, the figure 618 is pronounced in the Chinese more like a combination of the Chinese characters “六” and “发”, then is consequently considered as a lucky and easy-to-memorize figure in China.

这样拥有了两个吉利数字 6 和 8 的组合 618，再用 1 衔接起来，在中文里整体读来仿佛是“又六又发”的组合，因此，618 被中国人普遍视作是又好记又幸运的数字组合之一。

For example, if someone receive a virtual Alipay or WeChat red packet wrapped with a sum of ¥618 yuan (CNY), ¥61.8 yuan or ¥6.18 yuan at least, it is always considered to be a good fortune.

举个例子，若有人收到数额等于 618 的支付宝或微信红包，则会视为十分吉利和幸运。

Number 618 vs. The Mid-year Sales in China

618 与中国的年中购物节

One more topic related to 618 in China, it must be mentioned the “618 Mid-year Shopping event” held by JD, also called “JD’s 618 Anniversary Sales”.

说起 618， 不得不提的是由京东举办的 “618 年中购物节”，也被称作是 “京东 618 周年庆”。

JD, aka Jingdong or JD.com, is one of the top famous Chinese e-commerce platforms in China, which has designated the day June 18 of each year as JingDong's anniversary. When the day's almost coming, JD will launch a large-scale online promoting sales by releasing abundant exclusive coupons around the day. It's till the day June 18 this super annual shopping carnival will come to a climax, and online shoppers would get the biggest discount.

京东，作为中国知名的主流电商平台之一，将每年的 6 月 18 日定为京东的店庆日。自 2010 年起，京东都会围绕这一天推出一系列的大型促销活动和丰富的折扣券。直到 6 月 18 日这一天，可以说是京东促销力度最大的一天，也是整个年中购物活动的最高潮。

For that reason, the “618 Mid-year Sales” is gradually becoming another nationwide online shopping carnival event in China after the hot “Double 11 Shopping Carnival” held by Alibaba. When the day of 618 comes, or even just second half of May, many Chinese people will show a strong interests and tendency to the online shopping, and as well as dazzling promoting sales and big discounts.

正因如此，“618”在中国逐渐演变成为继阿里巴巴发起的 “双 11 购物节”后又一个属于中国人的全民网购狂欢节。当 618 这一天即将到来，甚至进入 5 月下旬时，人们往往会对在线购物、各类促销和大额优惠券产生浓厚的兴致。

618 And Chinese Numeral Homophonous Culture

618 与中国的数字谐音文化

谐音 (xié yīn) refers to homophones or near-homophones in Chinese language, that is, some Chinese characters or words have the same or similar pronunciations in the Chinese language. With regard to the homophonous numerals in Chinese, it means that some numbers or figures are pronounced the same or similar to other Chinese characters.

谐音，指的是中国汉语里的同音字或近音字，即读音相同或相近的汉字。而数字谐音，指的是在中文里某些中文数字的发音上与其他中文汉字的发音相同或相近。

Enjoy!