The word "taboo" here refers not only to naming fictional characters in literary creation, but also to naming in real life.
The first taboo: odd characters.
The second taboo: age limit.
The third taboo: small words and loud pronunciation.
Odd characters are common in literary works. With the proliferation of "Yixue" and "Gua Shu", they are becoming more and more common in reality. For example, my younger brother has a classmate named "Song?" No teacher can tell the pronunciation of the word "?" zhan (three tones, pronounced the same as "zhan") during roll call. For another example, I read in an online novel that a character's name is "Quehu". The pronunciation should be xi (one tone) and yue (four tones), which are pronounced the same as "西月". But at first glance, do you take it for granted that it is pronounced "Guhe"?
When the teacher calls the roll, if you can’t read it out, you can ask the student himself. It doesn’t matter if you can’t remember it, just remember the person. But in the work, readers passed it on by word of mouth, and then it was changed to film and television, and the actors yelled "Guhe" and "Guhe". Isn't it a joke?
The so-called "age restriction" means that the name has certain age-limiting characteristics. There are roughly three situations: one is the name appears "young", the other is the name appears "old" , the third is too many strokes.
Xiaoxiao, Lingzi, Shaoqiang... such names are "showing smallness" - there is nothing wrong with calling them young when they are young, but what should they do when they are old? In literary creation, it is okay if the age range of the characters is teenagers or young adults, but if they are "penetrating" characters or the names are used in reality, it seems "restricted".
Appear old, same reason. For example: Hanru, Zhitian, Jingmo... It is hard to imagine how a lively young man or a beautiful girl with such a name would bring a sense of disobedience to himself and others.
Why is it also classified as "age limit" if there are many strokes? It's simple - there are too many strokes and the words are too difficult to write. How much effort does the child have to put in to write his or her name correctly? There is a joke that my classmates have already handed in their papers for the exam, but they haven’t finished writing their names yet. A bit exaggerated, but not alarmist. Example: I have an old colleague whose surname is "Fan". Originally, this surname was difficult enough to write, so I named the child "Fan Yicheng". Oh my God! Even a "professional coder" like me doesn't dare to say that I can write these three characters with just one stroke of my pen! In reality, such a name is really hard on the children. If it were to be included in the work, the editor and director would probably beat them up!
As for "small characters with big sounds", the most typical example is "Zhang" as a surname. In reality, with this last name, there is nothing you can do. In the works, it should definitely be avoided. Otherwise, ten out of ten people will have to "evolve" into "Zhang". By the way: this "chapter" is "taboo", Aunt Qiong Yao is guilty of it. Fortunately, it was still the "reading era", so it wasn't a problem. Today, just...
When it comes to "artistic conception", the more typical ones are martial arts works.
If you pay a little attention, you will find that in martial arts novels and their derived film and television works, the names of characters are somewhat "estranged" and "different" from the "big world". Three characteristics:
First, stir-fry allusions. Typical example: Lian Nishang. Mr. Liang Yusheng's "The Legend of the White-Haired Witch" is the "big heroine" whose name is derived from "Nishang Yuyi".
Second, compound surnames are often used. Typical example: Linghu Chong. The male protagonist of "The Swordsman" written by Mr. Jin Yong. Linghu, among the compound surnames that are already unusual, is also rare and even more unusual.
Third, gender characteristics are ambiguous. Typical example: Lu Xiaofeng. The male protagonist of Mr. Gu Long's "Lu Xiaofeng" and an important supporting character in several other related works. There is also - also given by Mr. Gu Long, well-known - Chu Liuxiang. Just looking at the name can easily cause "gender misalignment".
Martial arts novels are all about purely fictitious "legends", which are similar to "myths". The characters' names are unique, which is not only understandable, but also quite necessary.
The "artistic conception" of the name is definitely not only found and needed in martial arts works. It is really a common need and should be there.
For example: My mother had a young colleague who introduced me to try to have a relationship. A very pretty girl, her name is "Jianguo'er" in Beijing dialect. Later, the negotiation failed, so he married a businessman, gave birth to a son, and named him "Zi Hao". He said that with this name, when the son grew up, people would call him "Brother Hao." This is probably the "artistic conception" created by watching too many Hong Kong gangster movies.
Another example is from the script of a TV series about the Northeast Anti-Japanese War that I just completed. It is a "revision" job, that is, there is a complete script (just "complete"), but if you feel it is not good, you have to change it. I don't think it is easy to change it, so I just follow the original structure and start over. There are three fictional characters in the play who are brothers and sisters. The names given in the original script are: the eldest brother "Qu Dacheng", the second brother "Qu Dagong", and the younger sister "Qu Lingxi". I feel that the surname "Qu" is not common in the Northeast and is not typical enough. The great achievements and great achievements are compared to the "well-off family with a scholarly atmosphere" (not counting the "scholarly family") set for the characters, which seems simple and vulgar, and It doesn't quite fit the era (the characters were all born in the early part of the last century), and it doesn't correspond to the name of the younger sister "Lingxi", and there seems to be a slight difference in "cultural heritage". I changed the surname to Lin (more surnames in the Northeast), and based on the characteristics of the times, gave them the generation "An", the eldest brother "Lin Ankang", the second brother "Lin Antai", the younger sister "Lin Anning", Kangtai Tranquility seems to correspond more appropriately to the "artistic conception of the story" composed of the era and character's origins, and is also more "catchy".