Dreaming of an elevator in Chinese dream interpretation: meaning
In Chinese people wish each other bu bu gao sheng: step by step higher. It is a wish for a steady career. In contemporary folk interpretation around the dream book of Zhou Gong an elevator going up is therefore often read as promotion and prosperity, and an elevator going down as a temporary setback.
Within this tradition
Climbing has a long history in Chinese culture as an image of success. In the imperial examination system passing literally meant rising in rank, and a well-known saying speaks of a carp that leaps over the Dragon Gate and becomes a dragon: an image of someone making a great leap through effort. At Chinese New Year people eat niangao, rice cake, because the name sounds like higher every year.
Along those lines contemporary dream guides read an elevator going up smoothly as progress, promotion or a plan that succeeds. An elevator rising very fast, as success coming quickly, sometimes with the warning not to reach too high. An elevator going down or falling, as a temporary setback, and an elevator that gets stuck, as a situation in which you must be patient until the way is clear again.
The floor number can also count in folk interpretation. Eight sounds like prosperity and counts as favourable, while four sounds like death; that is why the fourth floor is missing in some Chinese buildings. An elevator stopping at the eighth floor is then read with a smile as luck.
Old dream books and contemporary guides are folk interpretation, not fixed rules.
Common variations
An elevator going up
Bu bu gao sheng: step by step higher, promotion and prosperity.
An elevator rising very fast
Quick success, with the warning not to reach too high.
An elevator getting stuck
Patience until the way is clear again.
Stopping at the eighth floor
Eight sounds like prosperity: a favourable sign.
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Write your dream in the appFrequently asked questions
What does bu bu gao sheng mean?
Step by step higher: a Chinese wish for a steady career and growth.
Why is the fourth floor sometimes missing in China?
Because four sounds like the word for death. Eight instead sounds like prosperity.
Is the dream book of Zhou Gong really by Zhou Gong?
No, it is a collection of folk interpretation attributed to him, centuries after his life.