“Nine has always been respected by the Chinese, for it has tonal resonance with ‘long lasting’ and was also associated with the Emperor, who had nine dragons embroidered on his robe and ruled over a court divided between nine ranks of courtiers who could gain nine sorts of reward. This respect for the power of 9 led to many social listings of 9, often charged with an observant sense of humor, as well as the more serious concept of how individuals were bound ninefold to their family, clan, and community.
Here are the 9 Admirable Social Habits:
*Relieving tension * Courteous attention. * Discreet
Mention * Tenacious retention * Assiduousness *
Wise abstention * Calculated prevention * Truthful
Intervention * A sense of dimension
The 9 Virtues—as defined for the near legendary Emperor Yu (2205-2100. BC) by his chief minister Kao-Yao:
*Affability combined with dignity * Mildness with
firmness * Bluntness with respectfulness * Ability with
reverence * Docility with boldness * Straightforwardness
with gentleness * Easiness with discrimination * Vigo
with sincerity * Valor with goodness
The 9 Follies:
*To think oneself immortal * To think investments are
secure * To mistake conventional good manners for
friendship * To expect any reward for doing right * To
imagine the rich regard you as an equal * To continue to
drink after you have begun to declare that you are sober
* To recite your own verse * To lend money and expect
its return * To travel with too much luggage
The 9 Jollities of a Peasant:
*To laugh * To fight * To fill the stomach * To forget
* To sing * To take vengeance * To discuss * To boast
* To fall asleep
The 9 Deplorable Public Habits:
*Drunkenness * Dirtiness * Shuffling * Over-loud voice
* Scratching * Unpunctuality * Peevishness
* Spitting * Repeated jests
And the 9 Final Griefs:
*Disappointed expectations * Irretrievable loss
* Inevitable fatigue * Unanswered prayers
* Unrequited service * Ineradicable doubt
* Perpetual dereliction * Death * Judgement”
Excerpted from: Rogerson, Barnaby. Rogerson’s Book of Numbers: The Culture of Numbers–from 1,001 Nights to the Seven Wonders of the World. New York: Picador, 2013.
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