"Nine" not only has other numerals to indicate the quantity and order of things, but also often means "many". Shu studies of Wang Zhong in Qing Dynasty? Shi Sanjiu said, "Those who can't do one or two things are more common in about three times, and those who can't do three things are more common in about nine times." "Su Wen?" The number of heaven and earth begins with one and ends at nine, said The History of the Three Kingdoms and Nine Hous. I think "nine" is the highest number. If it exceeds nine, enter a place and return to "one". Therefore, since ancient times, "nine" has often been used to mean "many".
For example, The Prince of Nine Rivers: This is the story of Qi Huangong meeting the prince recorded in history. "Nine" does not mean nine times, but many times; "The Yellow River with nine bends" does not mean that the Yellow River has nine bends, but many bends. The "nine" in "A narrow escape" did not die nine times, but experienced various hardships; The "nine" in "Niu Yi's nine hairs" does not mean that there are nine cows, but a large number. The ancients said that "the sky is nine days, the earth is nine continents, the moon is nine roads, and the sun is nine lights", and "nine" also means many things.
Nine extends from "many" to "high" and "deep". For example, kuya, Nine Days, kuya and Under the Jiuquan.
"Nine" means more, and multiples of "nine" often mean more. For example, 18 kinds of martial arts, 18 rolling on the spot, 18 turning into a girl, 18 levels of hell, 36 plans, 72 lines, 72 changes, 81 difficult lines, 360 lines, nine years old (less than one person, more than 10,000 people), 108,000 heads.
"Nine" is the highest number and homophonic with "long", so it has been loved by people since ancient times. Emperors of all ages loved Jiugeng. They wore robes of nine dragons and built walls of nine dragons to make the world permanent. Thus, the world-famous imperial palace (Forbidden City) became the Nine Kingdoms. The three great halls (Hall of Supreme Harmony, Hall of Zhonghe and Hall of Baohe) are all nine feet high. The golden gate nails on the doors of palaces, temples and towns in the Forbidden City are also nine rows horizontally and nine rows vertically, with a * * * 9981; The number of steps is also nine or multiples of nine; The total number of palaces in the Forbidden City is nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine (half); Wherever emperors such as the Temple of Heaven and the Summer Palace go, buildings are mainly "nine".
Historical records? Emperor Wu said, "I am afraid to collect the gold from nine shepherds and cast Jiuding, such as Jiuzhou." "Jiuding" has become the most important treasure of a country in legend, and left the idiom "keep one word and nine" to show the weight of speech. Within the central ruling group, there are nine "Qing", that is, nine official positions, from Qin and Han Dynasties to Qing Dynasty, from generation to generation. Despite this worship of "Nine", the thrones of the past dynasties did not enjoy long-term stability, but only used the homonym of "Nine" and "Long Time" to express a wish of "Long Live" and "Immortality".
China's folks are also very partial to "Nine", which is manifested in the fact that everything is measured by "Nine", and "Counting Nine" is an example. The Chronicle of the Early Scene of the Southern Liang Dynasty records: "The number of winter solstice days, 998 1 day is a year's cold." From then on, "Jiujiu Song" began to spread among the people. These "Jiujiu Songs" skillfully use some ecological phenomena and weather signs in nature to reflect the law of winter climate change. "Painting Nine" appeared in Ming Dynasty and developed into "Writing Nine" in Qing Dynasty. Whether counting, painting or writing, we use "nine" as the standard number to outline the weather changes in winter. (Excerpted from Zhao Yupin, author of Learning Chinese)