Man has tried to establish relationship between numbers, objects and living beings on earth. In China, the practice of numerology dates back to more than 4000 years when it is said to have been ruled by mythical emperors.It is a legend that towards the end of the reign of these mythical emperors, Huang He (the Yellow River) kept getting flooded for years consecutively, destroying large areas of habitation along its path.

For more than ten years, Yu, the last of these emperors, fought the incessant flooding. Finally, he was able to bring them under control through a method of his own. This he called the 'flood preventing method'. According to the legend, the emperor, Yu, found a shell of a rare species of tortoise. On it were strange yet fascinating markings showing one square of nine boxes, three across and three down. The square could look like this sign #. The grid was named Lo Shu Grid.

The Lo Shu Grid is said to be a unique grid where there are numbers from 1 to 9 (no zero). These numbers add up to number 15 when added in any direction, either horizontally, vertically or diagonally. Now this figure 15 also relates to the fifteen days between a new moon and full moon. The number 5 is at the centre of the grid. Therefore, it is esteemed very highly and was greatly respected in China in the ancient days.

The study of numerology took root thereafter, and has now become widespread. Even in these modern times, the Chinese believe strongly in numbers. This is according to the belief that numbers have some kind of magical effect which can affect their life's destiny.

Today, Chinese numerology is based on Lo Shu Grid. It is used as the birth chart. This grid helps people to predict others' personality strengths and their traits. It looks complex and difficult to use at first but once one gets used to it, it is very simple to use because to know about someone's personality, one just needs his date of birth.

Beside the Lo Shu Grid, the Chinese make use of the numbers in other ways. Different meanings emerge from different numbers; a particular combination of numbers is considered luckier than the one that is not. It is their belief that a set of even numbers is lucky because good luck comes only in pairs.

Chinese Traditional Medicine considers mystical association to numerical and the science, which includes accupuncture, is based on this very belief. They have beliefs such as there are 12 vessels circulating blood and the air in the body and bringing blood to the heart correspond to the 12 rivers which flow towards the Central Kingdom. The basis of acupuncture is the 365 days of the year which correspond to the 365 parts of the body.