Taboo on personal names
Taboo on personal names is also commonly referred to as "taboo". Taboo avoidance is a cultural phenomenon unique to the Han people. "Taboo" refers to the names of emperors, "sages", officers and elders. People should not use random words when speaking or writing, and they should avoid using the same names as those of such characters. For example, instead of using the word "长", use the word "xiu" instead. When Sima Qian wrote "Historical Records", because his father's name was "Tan", he changed "Zhao Tan" to "Zhao Tong" and "Li Tan" to "Li Tong".
In the Tang and Song Dynasties, the ban on taboos gradually became stricter. In order to "respect the ancestors" and maintain the authority of the world, the Tang Dynasty required that monarchs who had died within seven generations must avoid taboos. Therefore, in order to avoid the taboo of Li Hu, the grandfather of Emperor Gaozu of the Tang Dynasty, the people of the Tang Dynasty changed the idiom "If you draw a tiger, you will not be like a dog" to "If you draw a dragon, you will not be like a dog". "How can you get the beast's cubs from the beast's den?" I simply don't know what it means. The Song Dynasty also stipulated that the names of monarchs above the seventh generation should also be avoided. "Chang'e" in myths and legends was originally named "Huan'e". It was changed to "Chang'e" in Li Shan's annotation of "Selected Works·Yue Fu" published by Zhao Chunxi. This is because people in the Song Dynasty avoided the taboo of Zhenzong and changed "Huan" to "Chang". Yang Yanzhao is a familiar figure among the generals of the Yang family. His real name was Yanzhao, but he changed his name to Yanzhao to avoid the taboo of Zhao Kuangyin's ancestor Xuanqi.
The Qing Dynasty was the dynasty when ethnic minorities from northern China took over the Central Plains. At the beginning of their entry into the country, taboo customs were not strict. For example, Emperor Shunzhi's real name was Aixinjueluo Fulin. According to the taboo method, the word "Fu Lin" should have been avoided. However, Emperor Shunzhi issued an edict at that time, declaring that no one should avoid tabooing his own name and the word Fulin. He also explained in the edict that everyone in the world should not be unlucky because of him. However, after Qianlong, the rulers again put the yoke of taboo on the people of the country, even to the extreme level of disregarding the ancestral precepts. In August of the thirteenth year of Qianlong's reign, after attending a sacrifice at the Moon Altar in Beijing, he returned to the palace and passed by the West Fourth Archway. He happened to see a resident writing the four words "Five Blessings on the Door" on the door mast. He felt angry and issued an edict the next day. And remove the four characters on the lintel of this house. For this reason, a special edict has been issued to the whole country, stipulating that these four characters are not allowed to be inscribed on the foreheads of civil servants. Anyone who violates this will be punished, and if he is an official, he will be dismissed.
It was not until the Revolution of 1911 that the last feudal dynasty was overthrown, the patriarchal system collapsed, and the taboo system that lasted for more than two thousand years came to an end. However, the taboo custom has not disappeared. Today, children are still taboo on calling their elders by their first names, let alone their nicknames. Words that are the same as or agree with their elders' names are also avoided. What is especially taboo is that the name of the younger generation must not be the same as the name of the elders, or have homophones or homophones. Otherwise, it is considered to be an act of "deceiving one's ancestors". When the younger generation calls the elders, they should generally use the generational title instead of the first name, such as grandpa, grandma, grandma, dad, mom, etc. This type of title can clearly indicate the seniority relationship and also contains the meaning of respect.
Taboos on names are mostly related to etiquette and customs, mainly to maintain the feudal hierarchy of superiority and inferiority, order of superiority and inferiority, and unequal interpersonal relationships. If we trace its origins, it probably starts from the primitive concept of witchcraft. The primitive ancestors believed that people's names were part of the human body. If they silently recited the name of their enemy or wrote someone's name, they could perform black (evil) witchcraft and kill the person. In order not to be harmed by others, they forbid others to call them by their first names. This is why everyone has a taboo. The initial taboo was practiced among the upper class and authority figures. Later it became popular among the people, affected the common people, and became a folk custom.
What’s interesting is that among the Han people, there are taboos not only on the names of living people, but also on the dead. "Book of Rites: Qu Lishang" says: After the death of a loved one, one should cry in mourning to show farewell. "It is taboo for a dead person to cry". After mourning, the deceased has been regarded as a ghost and his name can no longer be called. "Book of Rites Tan Yin" contains an example: A man named Zi Pu died, and someone called out the name of the deceased. Confucius's disciple Zi Gao ridiculed this person for being rude and disrespectful. Some Han Chinese in Tibet, due to the influence of Tibetan customs, absolutely prohibit mentioning the name of the recently deceased to the family of the deceased, otherwise it will be considered a great insult.