Why Is Eight Lucky in Chinese Culture?

Tim Ferriss says eight is lucky in Chinese culture because the Mandarin word for eight sounds like prosperity. Eight is ba. In the New Year's greeting 恭喜发财, which he renders as congratulations and a wish that you prosper, the syllable fa is the sound of riches coming out. That resemblance is where eight becomes lucky.

In Cantonese the match is even closer. The writing uses the same characters, and Japan and Korea borrowed Chinese writing, so the link shows up on the page as well as in the sound. He treats the habit as old, then supercharged in the 1980s, especially in Hong Kong, before it spread from there.