How Common Is Fear of the Number 13?

Thirteen phobia is a superstition, an irrational fear of the number thirteen. English is Triskaidekaphobia, from Greek, where "tris" means "three", "kai" means "and", "deka" means "ten", and "phobia" is interpreted as phobia. The idea of "Thirteen Ominous" may be derived from the ignorance of primitive humans, with 10 fingers plus 2 feet only counting to 12 and less than 13. The number mythologist thinks that 12 is a complete number, which is reflected in the 12 months of a year, the twelve hour system, the twelve constellations, the twelve disciples of Jesus, the twelve deities of Olympus, etc., and 13 goes beyond this. Completeness.

Thirteen phobias in Europe and America

Europe

Avoidance of 13 on aircraft seat arrangements

In American culture, 13 is considered an ominous number, unfortunate and unlucky. On April 13, 1970, the spacecraft on the US Apollo 13 mission failed. The explosion of the oxygen tank in the service cabin severely damaged the spacecraft, causing it to lose a large amount of oxygen and electricity.

Many buildings in Europe and America replaced the 13th floor with 12A floor. Room number, address number, and even plane seats are replaced by 13A. In Paris, France, if a total of 13 people are invited to dinner, a professional guest will be invited to make up for 14 people to avoid evil.

Thirteen phobias in China

In China, "Thirteen" is a number that is used more frequently, and traditionally has no ominous meaning. Such as the Thirteen Sutras, Thirteen Rows, and Thirteen Shumen. Cantonese users generally think that 13 is an auspicious number because its homophone is "real life". In the mahjong game, "Thirteen Cards" is a deck of cards, consisting of three ordinal cards, one and nine cards, seven types of cards, and a pair of trump cards. Also, to say that people "thirteen points" is to call people silly.

Thirteen phobias in Hong Kong

Prior to the mid-1970s, the numbers of Hong Kong China Bus routes were arranged in numbers. After Line 12 was put into service in 1955, the next route should have been 13, but the CMB management at that time referred to "Thirteen Ominous", so this number was skipped. The new line opened in 1960 continued to be line 14 Go on. Until 1973, when the 13th line was planned to be opened, the director of China and Pakistan Yan Chengkun declared in the newspaper that he did not believe in the "thirteen ominous" thoughts, and compiled the line as 13, the driving route has been maintained for more than 30 years. ^[2]