Editing Myriad (section)

==In East Asian languages==
{{see also|Chinese numerals|Japanese numerals|Korean numerals|Vietnamese numerals|Khmer numerals}}
In [[East Asian culture|East Asia]], the traditional numeral systems of [[Chinese numerals|China]], [[Korean numerals|Korea]], and [[Japanese numerals|Japan]] are all [[decimal]]-based but grouped into ten thousands rather than thousands. The [[Chinese character|character]] for myriad is {{lang|zh|{{linktext|萬}}}} in [[traditional characters|traditional]] script and {{lang|zh|{{linktext|万}}}} in [[simplified characters|simplified]] form in both [[Simplified Chinese character#Mainland China|mainland China]] and [[Japanese script reform|Japanese]]; its pronunciation varies between languages ([[Mandarin Chinese|Mandarin]]: ''wàn'', [[Hakka language|Hakka]]: ''wan''<sup>5</sup>, [[Minnan language|Minnan]]: ''bān'', [[Cantonese language|Cantonese]]: ''maan''<sup>6</sup>, [[Japanese language|Japanese]] and [[Korean language|Korean]]: ''man'', [[Vietnamese language|Vietnamese]]: ''vạn'', [[Thai language|Thai]]: หมื่น ''muen'' and [[Khmer language|Khmer]]: ម៉ឺន ''meun'').{{cn|date=November 2023}}

Because of this grouping into fours, higher orders of numbers are provided by the [[power (math)|powers]] of 10,000 rather than 1,000: In China, 10,000<sup>2</sup> was {{lang|zh|{{linktext|萬萬}}}} in ancient texts but is now called {{lang|zh|{{linktext|億}}}} and sometimes written as 1,0000,0000; 10,000<sup>3</sup> is 1,0000,0000,0000 or {{lang|zh|{{linktext|兆}}}}; 10,000<sup>4</sup> is 1,0000,0000,0000,0000 or {{lang|zh|{{linktext|京}}}}; and so on. Conversely, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean generally do not have native words for powers of one thousand: what is called "one million" in English is "100{{lang|zh|萬}}" (100 myriad) in the [[Sinosphere]], and "one billion" in English is "{{lang|zh|十億}}" (ten [[-yllion|myllion]]) or "{{lang|zh|十萬萬}}" (ten myriad myriad) in the Sinosphere. Unusually, Vietnam employs its former translation of {{lang|zh|兆}}, ''một triệu'', to mean 1,000,000 rather than the Chinese figure. Similarly, the Chinese government has adapted the word {{lang|zh|兆}} to mean the scientific prefix [[mega-]], but transliterations are used instead for [[giga-]], [[tera-]], and other larger prefixes. This has caused confusion in areas closely related to China such as [[Hong Kong]] and [[Macau]], where {{lang|zh|兆}} is still largely used to mean 10,000<sup>3</sup>.{{cn|date=November 2023}}

{{lang|zh|萬}} and {{lang|zh|万}} are also frequently employed colloquially in expressions, [[cliché]]s, and ''[[chengyu]]'' (idioms) in the senses of "vast", "numerous", "numberless", and "infinite". A [[skeleton key]] is a {{lang|zh|{{linktext|万|能|钥|匙}}}} ("myriad-use key"),<ref>Nciku.com. "[http://www.nciku.com/search/all/examples/%E4%B8%87%E8%83%BD%E9%92%A5%E5%8C%99 万能钥匙]". Accessed 1 November 2013.</ref> the [[emperor of China|emperor]] was the "lord of myriad [[chariot]]s" ({{lang|zh|萬乘之主}}),<ref>Wai Keung Chan, Timothy.<!--sic--> ''Considering the End: Mortality in Early Medieval Chinese Poetic Representation'', [https://books.google.com/books?id=iQgyAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA23 23]. Brill, 2012. Accessed 1 November 2013.</ref> the [[Great Wall]] is called {{lang|zh|{{linktext|万|里|长|城}}}} ("Myriad-[[Chinese mile|mile]] Long Wall"), [[Zhu Xi]]'s statement {{lang|zh|{{linktext|月|映|万|川}}}} ("the moon reflects in myriad rivers") had the sense of supporting greater [[empiricism]] in [[Chinese philosophy]],<ref>Chen Derong. ''Metaphorical Metaphysics in Chinese Philosophy'', [https://books.google.com/books?id=Xt0iFhh0pAgC&pg=PA29 p. 29]. Lexington Books (Lanham, MD), 2011. Accessed 1 November 2013.</ref> and Ha Qiongwen's popular 1959 [[Propaganda in the People's Republic of China|propaganda poster]] {{lang|zh|{{linktext|毛|主席|万岁}}}}, meaning "Long live [[Chairman of the Central Military Commission (China)|Chairman]] [[Mao Zedong|Mao]]", literally reads as "[May] Chairman Mao [live to be] [[Ten thousand years|10,000 years old]]".<ref>Yeh Wen-hsin & al. ''Visualizing China, 1845–1965: Moving and Still Images in Historical Narratives'', [https://books.google.com/books?id=iSEyAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA416 pp. 416 ff.] Brill, 2012. Accessed 1 November 2013.</ref> Its literary use may thus mean something huge and plentiful.<ref name=":Zhu">{{Cite book |last=Zhu |first=Tao |title=Red Legacies in China: Cultural Afterlives of the Communist Revolution |date=2016 |publisher=[[Harvard University Asia Center]] |isbn=978-0-674-73718-1 |editor-last=Li |editor-first=Jie |series=Harvard Contemporary China Series |volume= |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |chapter=Building Big With No Regret: From Beijing's "Ten Great Buildings" in the 1950s to China's Megaprojects Today |doi= |jstor= |editor-last2=Zhang |editor-first2=Enhua}}</ref>{{Rp|page=60}}