4 replies to this topic

[nordy]

I bought a Lucky Bamboo with 19 stalks. Is 19 a Lucky number in Feng Shui? What does 19 mean?

Edited by nordy, 23 May 2012 - 09:06 AM.

[ghostexorcist]

I am unaware of 19 having significance. It's possible that 19 just so happened to be the number of stalks that they could fit into the jar. Then again, it could be some weird play on Chinese numerology. The Chinese word for 19 is shijiu (十九), comprising the characters for 10 (十) and 9 (九). Ten usually means "tenfold" (i.e. many) or "perfection." The Chinese also believe that there are 10 elements of a good life:

"manifold returns from single investment, two hearts living together in harmony, passing all three levels of civil examinations with flying colours, peace throughout the four seasons, a bountiful harvest of all five major grains, the vigour of spring growth in all six Chinese cardinal directions, being blessed with seven successful sons, a life longer than any of the Eight Immortals, nine generations under one roof, and complete prosperity and wealth" (Welch, Chinese Art, 231).

The last one obviously makes 10. Nine usually means "infinity." So, combined, 19 could mean something like endless prosperity like that mentioned above, or "endless perfection." None of the books I have mention 19 specifically, so I'm just taking an educated guess. Hopefully this helps.

Edited by ghostexorcist, 23 May 2012 - 02:49 PM.

[nordy]

Thanks for such a detailed reply. Since 9 is considered a fortunate number, I simply split the whole thing into 2 sets of 9 each, and planted one somewhere

[danmarcus]

Would that still be called lucky though? Haha, I'd imagine that it is. But it's still fun to ask questions like that. Y'know? Questioning answers. xD

[Mak Jo Si]

Hi there, I am new to the forum and I am also a fengshui master myself. Those bamboos are just for Yi Tao 意頭 in the past and really it is not something that is effective in fengshui at all. If you wanted to know how the number 19 works, I must tell you that they actually did a big mistake, usaully people put 18 which in Cantonese sounds like "實發" meaning for sure get rich. 19 is a weird one.

1 = element of water, 一白 star
9 = element of fire, 九紫 star

you can also call that 紫白 meaning the 9 stars of fengshui as well.. if you are going to put a very nice way to round off that number for people.. but then it really doesn't work that way at all.

Enjoy your bamboo though, I had one myself back then and it is super hard to upkeep! All the best!