Ideograph for four

It means the number four. The surrounding text tells you whether it names a quantity, a date, or a position.

Mandarin pronounces it sì; Japanese uses shi and yon; Korean reads it sa. Chinese characters are called kanji in Japanese and hanja in Korean. The glyph alone does not identify the language. Japanese yon is an ordinary reading; shi also occurs in established compounds.

Early Chinese inscriptions on bones and shells used four horizontal marks to record four; bronze inscriptions kept that form. By ancient China’s Spring and Autumn period, the enclosed 四 appears. Scholars of early writing connect this shape to exhaled breath: it was borrowed to write “four” because the words sounded alike, rather than created by boxing in four strokes.

Why is four unlucky?

Its sound can echo death. 死 means “death”: Mandarin sǐ differs from sì by tone, the voice’s pitch pattern. Japanese shi and Korean sa are also readings of 死. This is a sound association, not a visual resemblance.

As of 2026, avoidance of four remains visible in Korean room numbering and gift counts, though observance varies. A reply naming four items is usually arithmetic, not a threat. Look for a joke, warning, or discussion of bad luck before reading more into it.