1

一 the whole, the universe

2
二 the positive and negative; the upper may
refer to the heaven, the lower the earth
3
三 the upper may refer to the heaven, the
lower the earth, and the middle the
human
4
四 first |||| (four bars), then combines with 二
to avoid ambiguity
5
五 the two bars are sky and earth, the X
being the intersection between them, to
mean all positive number greater than
four
6
六 a house with four sides plus roof and
ground giving six
7
七 designed originally to be 十 (meaning all
number greater than six) with a twist on
the bottom
8
八 meaning "divide", used to be greatest
number
9
九 Designed originally to be a right arm
reaching for something. Nine bears a
meaning of great, the number of
categories for many things
10
十 (a rope overhung) combines with a knot
on it; using ten to mean "all" may be
because of the fact that we have ten
fingers