<p>see bkrs <a href="https://bkrs.info/slovo.php?ch=%E4%B8%87" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://bkrs.info/slovo.php?ch=%E4%B8%87</a>, iciba <a href="http://www.iciba.com/%E4%B8%87" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://www.iciba.com/%E4%B8%87</a> for 万，used in fixed expressions: 万民,万国博览会 (world's fair),万事万物,万难(e.g.推辞),(extremely),万不可说,万能(omnipotent),天地万物,There is no god but God: 万物非主，唯有真主, </p>

<p>,  。。。万岁！long live 。。。！Jp. “Banzai!” e.g.全世界人民大团结万岁!毛主席万岁，万万岁！</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-04-26T07:36:07.867Z
2019-04-26T07:36:07.867Z
user6065
<p>"萬" is explained by other, for your query:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>is it correct to use "万", 10000, and not something else (maybe even numerically bigger), like, "one million", "one billion"?</p>
</blockquote>

<p>well, in ancient times, "億" &amp; "兆" were used.</p>

<p>the modern explanation of these two are, mathematically:</p>

<p><a href="https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%84%84" rel="nofollow noreferrer">億: 100,000,000</a></p>

<p><a href="https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%85%86" rel="nofollow noreferrer">兆: 100,000,000,000</a></p>

<p>certain usages:</p>

<p>尚書　呂刑</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>一人有慶．兆民賴之</p>
</blockquote>

<p>"兆民" means "all people".</p>

<p>梁書　列傳第三十九</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>立我蕭宗．重興我梁國．億兆黎庶．咸蒙此恩</p>
</blockquote>

<p>"億兆黎庶", in which "億兆" literally means hundred of million (億) of hundred of billion (兆). well, just shortcut it into "all people"</p>

<p>if you can read literary chinese, there're many similar usages.</p>

<p>the bottom line is, "千" (1,000), or "萬" (10,000) is very humble "great number", in chinese language.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-06-11T13:27:36.880Z
I think the info 兆 = 100 billion is incorrect, it should be 1 trillion: 兆,000,亿00,0万千,百十个
Enrico Brasil
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-06-11T13:46:45.333Z
@enrico brasil, the link i provided, had some info about 兆, in the context of chinese. i accepted it's controversial; have a look :)
水巷孑蠻
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-04-26T14:41:59.470Z
2019-04-26T14:41:59.470Z
水巷孑蠻
<p>You are correct, 万, 千 and 百 literally mean 10000, 1000 and 100. These words are often used as a figurative number for 'great', 'huge' or 'immense' </p>

<p>For example: </p>

<p>万人空巷 doesn't literally mean ten thousand people spilling out to the streets. 万人 means 'great number of people'  </p>

<p>万水千山 doesn't literally mean ten thousand bodies of water and one thousand mountains.  万水千山 means many, many mountains and bodies of water = "immense distance"</p>

<p>千锤百炼 doesn't literally mean hammer one thousand times and temper one hundred times. 千锤百炼 means "extendedly forged"</p>

<p>Other numbers like 六, 九, 十 are often used metaphorically for 'all, entire, ultimate' too.  </p>

<p>For example: </p>

<p>六軍(whole army)，九阴九阳(extreme/ ultimate yin and extreme/ ultimate yang), 十全十美 (perfect)</p>

<p><em>万, 千 and 百 are not figurative number, when they are with actual numbers.  一万, 二千 and  三百 can only mean 10000, 2000 and 300</em></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-04-26T16:08:40.873Z
An interesting coincidence: the English word "myriad" also means both "ten thousand" and "a large number", and comes from a Greek word that also has those two meanings.
Monty Harder
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-04-26T16:56:20.457Z
六，九，and十*are not* figurative numbers. Traditionally, armies were actually divided into 6 components. Nine has certain significance within Ancient Chinese philosophy, which is why it is there. Ten here actually means 100 percent.
H Huang
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-04-26T19:58:40.017Z
六軍不發無奈何 in 長恨歌 meant the entire army not  six armies; 十面埋伏 means all side, not ten sides
Tang Ho
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-04-26T07:15:49.050Z
2019-04-26T10:21:58.380Z
2019-04-26T10:21:58.380Z
Tang Ho
<p>I noticed that very often the word 万 (wàn) occurs in poetry (e.g. poetry of the Tang dynasty). My dictionary reports its meaning as "ten thousands", but it looks like it's used in place of a generic "great number". A sentence I notice very frequently is "万里" (wàn lǐ): I feel like this is just a way to mean "a very long distance".</p>

<p>So, what is the proper meaning and usage of "万"? Is it correct to use it for "great", "enormous"? On the other side, to mean "huge", "great", is it correct to use "万", 10000, and not something else (maybe even numerically bigger), like, "one million", "one billion"?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-04-26T18:06:18.897Z
Fwiw, myriad—the English word for 10,000 as a single unit—worked exactly the same way in ancient Greek: as an actual number and as a handwavy reference to "too many to ever bother counting". It still has both meanings, but English as a system prefers to count in sets of three. Chinese simply kept the larger unit as well as its figurative sense.
lly
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-04-26T18:09:17.120Z
Also worth pointing out that 万, 千, and the rest can **also** be read as "myriads", "thousands", "thousands and thousands", etc. instead of as only singular units. Remembering that they can have that plural value can help understand their figurative uses faster and more intuitively.
lly
<word-choice><usage><word>
Usage of 万 (wàn): ten thousands or just a great number?
# Usage of 万 (wàn): ten thousands or just a great number?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2019-04-26)

I noticed that very often the word 万 (wàn) occurs in poetry (e.g. poetry of the Tang dynasty). My dictionary reports its meaning as "ten thousands", but it looks like it's used in place of a generic "great number". A sentence I notice very frequently is "万里" (wàn lǐ): I feel like this is just a way to mean "a very long distance".

So, what is the proper meaning and usage of "万"? Is it correct to use it for "great", "enormous"? On the other side, to mean "huge", "great", is it correct to use "万", 10000, and not something else (maybe even numerically bigger), like, "one million", "one billion"?

**Tags:** word-choice, usage, word
> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Fwiw, myriad—the English word for 10,000 as a single unit—worked exactly the same way in ancient Greek: as an actual number and as a handwavy reference to "too many to ever bother counting". It still has both meanings, but English as a system prefers to count in sets of three. Chinese simply kept the larger unit as well as its figurative sense.  
> **username_1**: Also worth pointing out that 万, 千, and the rest can **also** be read as "myriads", "thousands", "thousands and thousands", etc. instead of as only singular units. Remembering that they can have that plural value can help understand their figurative uses faster and more intuitively.  

---

## 3 answers

### Answer by username_5 on 2019-04-26. Score: 5 | Accepted answer

You are correct, 万, 千 and 百 literally mean 10000, 1000 and 100. These words are often used as a figurative number for 'great', 'huge' or 'immense'

For example:

万人空巷 doesn't literally mean ten thousand people spilling out to the streets. 万人 means 'great number of people'

万水千山 doesn't literally mean ten thousand bodies of water and one thousand mountains. 万水千山 means many, many mountains and bodies of water = "immense distance"

千锤百炼 doesn't literally mean hammer one thousand times and temper one hundred times. 千锤百炼 means "extendedly forged"

Other numbers like 六, 九, 十 are often used metaphorically for 'all, entire, ultimate' too.

For example:

六軍(whole army)，九阴九阳(extreme/ ultimate yin and extreme/ ultimate yang), 十全十美 (perfect)

*万, 千 and 百 are not figurative number, when they are with actual numbers. 一万, 二千 and 三百 can only mean 10000, 2000 and 300*

> **Comments:**
> **username_6**: An interesting coincidence: the English word "myriad" also means both "ten thousand" and "a large number", and comes from a Greek word that also has those two meanings.  
> **username_7**: 六，九，and十*are not* figurative numbers. Traditionally, armies were actually divided into 6 components. Nine has certain significance within Ancient Chinese philosophy, which is why it is there. Ten here actually means 100 percent.  
> **username_5**: 六軍不發無奈何 in 長恨歌 meant the entire army not  six armies; 十面埋伏 means all side, not ten sides  

---

### Answer by username_2 on 2019-04-26. Score: 2

see bkrs <https://bkrs.info/slovo.php?ch=%E4%B8%87>, iciba <http://www.iciba.com/%E4%B8%87> for 万，used in fixed expressions: 万民,万国博览会 (world's fair),万事万物,万难(e.g.推辞),(extremely),万不可说,万能(omnipotent),天地万物,There is no god but God: 万物非主，唯有真主,

, 。。。万岁！long live 。。。！Jp. “Banzai!” e.g.全世界人民大团结万岁!毛主席万岁，万万岁！


---

### Answer by username_3 on 2019-04-26. Score: 1

"萬" is explained by other, for your query:

> is it correct to use "万", 10000, and not something else (maybe even numerically bigger), like, "one million", "one billion"?

well, in ancient times, "億" & "兆" were used.

the modern explanation of these two are, mathematically:

[億: 100,000,000](https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%84%84)

[兆: 100,000,000,000](https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%85%86)

certain usages:

尚書　呂刑

> 一人有慶．兆民賴之

"兆民" means "all people".

梁書　列傳第三十九

> 立我蕭宗．重興我梁國．億兆黎庶．咸蒙此恩

"億兆黎庶", in which "億兆" literally means hundred of million (億) of hundred of billion (兆). well, just shortcut it into "all people"

if you can read literary chinese, there're many similar usages.

the bottom line is, "千" (1,000), or "萬" (10,000) is very humble "great number", in chinese language.

> **Comments:**
> **username_4**: I think the info 兆 = 100 billion is incorrect, it should be 1 trillion: 兆,000,亿00,0万千,百十个  
> **username_3**: @enrico brasil, the link i provided, had some info about 兆, in the context of chinese. i accepted it's controversial; have a look :)  

---

