section_path: Culture/Folklore and superstition
section_name: Folklore and superstition
paragraph_text: Folklore and superstition
  
  In the United Kingdom, clocks are associated with various beliefs, many involving death or bad luck. In legends, clocks have reportedly stopped of their own accord upon a nearby person's death, especially those of monarchs. The clock in the House of Lords supposedly stopped at "nearly" the hour of George III 's death in 1820, the one at Balmoral Castle stopped during the hour of Queen Victoria 's death, and similar legends are related about clocks associated with William IV and Elizabeth I. Many superstitions exist about clocks. One stopping before a person has died may foretell coming death. Similarly, if a clock strikes during a church hymn or a marriage ceremony, death or calamity is prefigured for the parishioners or a spouse, respectively. Death or ill events are foreshadowed if a clock strikes the wrong time. It may also be unlucky to have a clock face a fire or to speak while a clock is striking.
  
  In Chinese culture, giving a clock (traditional Chinese: 送鐘; simplified Chinese: 送钟; pinyin: sòng zhōng) is often taboo, especially to the elderly, as it is a homophone of the act of attending another's funeral (traditional Chinese: 送終; simplified Chinese: 送终; pinyin: sòngzhōng).