<p>In Chinese people often use the character 正 as tally marks (set of 5). See: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tally_marks" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tally_marks</a></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-12-31T18:26:37.503Z
2018-12-31T18:26:37.503Z
Kevin
<p>i suspected it's "花碼"</p>

<p><a href="https://zh-yue.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%8A%B1%E7%A2%BC" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://zh-yue.wikipedia.org/wiki/花碼</a></p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/jxwmz.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/jxwmz.jpg" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>

<p>the unicode has these :)</p>

<p>1 - 〡 (u+3021)</p>

<p>2 - 〢 (u+3022)</p>

<p>3 - 〣 (u+3023)</p>

<p>4 - 〤 (u+3024)</p>

<p>5 - 〥 (u+3025)</p>

<p>6 - 〦 (u+3026)</p>

<p>7 - 〧 (u+3027)</p>

<p>8 - 〨 (u+3028)</p>

<p>9 - 〩 (u+3029)</p>

<p>for zero ( 0 ), just write anything like an "0" (u+0030) or "O" (u+004f), or "o" (u+006f) </p>

<p>these type of "number" is actively used in hong kong till recent decades.</p>

<p>some pages talked about it's usage:</p>

<p><a href="https://zh-cn.facebook.com/tcsince1915/photos/a.1657230367749275/2146011468871160/?type=3&amp;eid=ARB5I3SCgyyKt9eNdUmCHpbrVbKlbG6wAjwaAYlK3tJF3VbjrZteYQhdBIEjQc79qIQcHQOQMrx-G0z0&amp;__xts__%5B0%5D=68.ARDOTg8CJGB0m-KfLsD4V4t0tU_Dkm-CRGdo7aIL3c9ujZ0Z7PMaCQveHHDUD0OfIC2RRXCia1w39TXjMsJOSRaz8ArswIHmfgIzkFVB81LH52iYD_fk_evIxWof-Ao6HKvC-jd1BFRdudkl0q8oTVBtC41Aw47wngbfZXHLEEY9gqP3mtCdlE_G_c9Ivq33JCJ_IVNsSIEtvH73Kq4hUfQqPHgXVIXljzXeUX6YhHfsRFt9XzExpKjBjnkH0PCB2qu7gEIffNcNwqRPQdWD4JAfeiZzTbQSeGhscdj1Pmhl8_FiKF90c7QfPG-4YumkLbaBtj0wcSqO1Wudu0D2B8Rfrjnx&amp;__tn__=EHH-R" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://zh-cn.facebook.com/tcsince1915/photos/a.1657230367749275/2146011468871160/?type=3&amp;eid=ARB5I3SCgyyKt9eNdUmCHpbrVbKlbG6wAjwaAYlK3tJF3VbjrZteYQhdBIEjQc79qIQcHQOQMrx-G0z0&amp;__xts__%5B0%5D=68.ARDOTg8CJGB0m-KfLsD4V4t0tU_Dkm-CRGdo7aIL3c9ujZ0Z7PMaCQveHHDUD0OfIC2RRXCia1w39TXjMsJOSRaz8ArswIHmfgIzkFVB81LH52iYD_fk_evIxWof-Ao6HKvC-jd1BFRdudkl0q8oTVBtC41Aw47wngbfZXHLEEY9gqP3mtCdlE_G_c9Ivq33JCJ_IVNsSIEtvH73Kq4hUfQqPHgXVIXljzXeUX6YhHfsRFt9XzExpKjBjnkH0PCB2qu7gEIffNcNwqRPQdWD4JAfeiZzTbQSeGhscdj1Pmhl8_FiKF90c7QfPG-4YumkLbaBtj0wcSqO1Wudu0D2B8Rfrjnx&amp;__tn__=EHH-R</a></p>

<p><a href="https://www.hk01.com/%E7%86%B1%E7%88%86%E8%A9%B1%E9%A1%8C/52311/%E7%B4%85van%E9%9B%86%E9%AB%94%E5%9B%9E%E6%86%B6-%E3%80%A4%E3%80%A5-%E8%8A%B1%E7%A2%BC%E5%83%B9%E9%8C%A2%E7%89%8C-%E4%BD%A0%E7%9F%A5%E8%90%BD%E8%BB%8A%E4%BF%BE%E5%B9%BE%E9%8C%A2" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.hk01.com/熱爆話題/52311/紅van集體回憶-〤〥-花碼價錢牌-你知落車俾幾錢</a></p>

<p><a href="https://lihkg.com/thread/328698/page/1" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://lihkg.com/thread/328698/page/1</a></p>

<p>
when i was young, studying in primary school, i needed to learn 0-9 in english, roman numerals, chinese numerals (大寫),   and 花碼,  at the same time :(
</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-12-28T13:02:55.813Z
Why would they teach 花码 to elementary school kids?
Mou某
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-12-28T13:18:03.850Z
well, it was widely used :) in the market, or mini-bus. if a kid can't read the price correctly, he would be cheated :(
水巷孑蠻
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-12-28T17:07:33.563Z
The question said that `any new number was formed by adding a new stroke`, which unfortunately 花碼 doesn’t qualify :(
dROOOze
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-12-28T17:24:26.447Z
that's why i said "suspected" :)
水巷孑蠻
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-12-27T11:45:01.443Z
2018-12-27T11:45:01.443Z
水巷孑蠻
<p>Some years ago in Manchester I was attending a English class for foreigners. While waiting for the teacher a Korean or Chinese girl was jotting down some symbols on her notebook. I asked what was she drawing. She answered me that she was just writing the numbers one to nine. She added that it was a popular and informal way for writing numbers in Asia.It was something similar to the west way: I II III but in asian style. The first number was just a stroke, and any new number was formed adding a new stroke. Anybody can show me this informal system? I looked for in the net without any success. </p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-12-26T17:41:24.157Z
https://korean.stackexchange.com/questions/502/how-do-the-stroke-counting-symbol-work/
dROOOze
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-12-26T17:49:01.850Z
Thanks @droooze. Yes you are absolutely right. And if I remember well the girl was Korean not Chinese.
joan
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-12-26T17:51:57.597Z
I think you may have misunderstood those answers over at Korean SE. The system that uses 正 as a tally marker is used all over China, Korea, and Japan - see both answers and the Wikipedia and Wiktionary links.
dROOOze
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-12-27T05:44:06.217Z
So the correct answer here is that the 正-tally was used?
Mou某
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-01-02T13:32:56.263Z
Yes, @user3306356. If I remember correctly what I saw was the  正-tally. I confirmed the Kevin answer.
joan
<number>
Informal asian signs for numbers
# Informal asian signs for numbers

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-12-26)

Some years ago in Manchester I was attending a English class for foreigners. While waiting for the teacher a Korean or Chinese girl was jotting down some symbols on her notebook. I asked what was she drawing. She answered me that she was just writing the numbers one to nine. She added that it was a popular and informal way for writing numbers in Asia.It was something similar to the west way: I II III but in asian style. The first number was just a stroke, and any new number was formed adding a new stroke. Anybody can show me this informal system? I looked for in the net without any success.

**Tags:** number

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: https://korean.stackexchange.com/questions/502/how-do-the-stroke-counting-symbol-work/  
> **username_0**: Thanks @username_1. Yes you are absolutely right. And if I remember well the girl was Korean not Chinese.  
> **username_1**: I think you may have misunderstood those answers over at Korean SE. The system that uses 正 as a tally marker is used all over China, Korea, and Japan - see both answers and the Wikipedia and Wiktionary links.  
> **username_2**: So the correct answer here is that the 正-tally was used?  
> **username_0**: Yes, @user3306356. If I remember correctly what I saw was the  正-tally. I confirmed the username_3 answer.  

---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2018-12-31. Score: 2 | Accepted answer

In Chinese people often use the character 正 as tally marks (set of 5). See: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tally_marks>


---

### Answer by username_4 on 2018-12-27. Score: 2

i suspected it's "花碼"

[https://zh-yue.wikipedia.org/wiki/花碼](https://zh-yue.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%8A%B1%E7%A2%BC)

[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/jxwmz.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/jxwmz.jpg)

the unicode has these :)

1 - 〡 (u+3021)

2 - 〢 (u+3022)

3 - 〣 (u+3023)

4 - 〤 (u+3024)

5 - 〥 (u+3025)

6 - 〦 (u+3026)

7 - 〧 (u+3027)

8 - 〨 (u+3028)

9 - 〩 (u+3029)

for zero ( 0 ), just write anything like an "0" (u+0030) or "O" (u+004f), or "o" (u+006f)

these type of "number" is actively used in hong kong till recent decades.

some pages talked about it's usage:

<https://zh-cn.facebook.com/tcsince1915/photos/a.1657230367749275/2146011468871160/?type=3&eid=ARB5I3SCgyyKt9eNdUmCHpbrVbKlbG6wAjwaAYlK3tJF3VbjrZteYQhdBIEjQc79qIQcHQOQMrx-G0z0&__xts__%5B0%5D=68.ARDOTg8CJGB0m-KfLsD4V4t0tU_Dkm-CRGdo7aIL3c9ujZ0Z7PMaCQveHHDUD0OfIC2RRXCia1w39TXjMsJOSRaz8ArswIHmfgIzkFVB81LH52iYD_fk_evIxWof-Ao6HKvC-jd1BFRdudkl0q8oTVBtC41Aw47wngbfZXHLEEY9gqP3mtCdlE_G_c9Ivq33JCJ_IVNsSIEtvH73Kq4hUfQqPHgXVIXljzXeUX6YhHfsRFt9XzExpKjBjnkH0PCB2qu7gEIffNcNwqRPQdWD4JAfeiZzTbQSeGhscdj1Pmhl8_FiKF90c7QfPG-4YumkLbaBtj0wcSqO1Wudu0D2B8Rfrjnx&__tn__=EHH-R>

[https://www.hk01.com/熱爆話題/52311/紅van集體回憶-〤〥-花碼價錢牌-你知落車俾幾錢](https://www.hk01.com/%E7%86%B1%E7%88%86%E8%A9%B1%E9%A1%8C/52311/%E7%B4%85van%E9%9B%86%E9%AB%94%E5%9B%9E%E6%86%B6-%E3%80%A4%E3%80%A5-%E8%8A%B1%E7%A2%BC%E5%83%B9%E9%8C%A2%E7%89%8C-%E4%BD%A0%E7%9F%A5%E8%90%BD%E8%BB%8A%E4%BF%BE%E5%B9%BE%E9%8C%A2)

<https://lihkg.com/thread/328698/page/1>

when i was young, studying in primary school, i needed to learn 0-9 in english, roman numerals, chinese numerals (大寫), and 花碼, at the same time :(

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: Why would they teach 花码 to elementary school kids?  
> **username_4**: well, it was widely used :) in the market, or mini-bus. if a kid can't read the price correctly, he would be cheated :(  
> **username_1**: The question said that `any new number was formed by adding a new stroke`, which unfortunately 花碼 doesn’t qualify :(  
> **username_4**: that's why i said "suspected" :)  

---

