The Tang Dynasty did not hesitate to launch a war and force a person to change his name just because his name contained these two characters
Even the emperor's name had a special set of "taboos" system. As long as an ordinary Chinese character appears in the emperor's name, it becomes the emperor's exclusive use. In that dynasty, no one is allowed to directly mention or write it, and it can no longer be used in names. This character should be avoided not only when naming children, but also when naming adults. Anyone with this word in their name must also remove or change it.
For example, Xu Shiji, the famous founding general of the Tang Dynasty, and Li Yuan, the emperor of the Tang Dynasty, gave the surname "Li" and changed it to Li Shiji in order to show his favor and trust. After Tang Taizong Li Shimin ascended the throne, Li Shiji had to avoid taboos, so he had to remove the word "世" and change it to Li Ji. Hao Hao's name was changed beyond recognition, from Xu Shiji to Li Ji. His own father would be shocked when he saw it. It's simply dumbfounding.
The name of Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty was Xuan Ye. It didn't matter that the character "Ye" was not commonly used, but the character "Xuan" was very commonly used. It was uniformly replaced by the character "Yuan". As a result, the literati of the Qing Dynasty almost tormented the literati to death. . When compiling history books and writing books, Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty must be written as Yuanzong of the Tang Dynasty. In front of the tomb of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty in Shaanxi, there is still a stone tablet erected by the Qing Dynasty, which is engraved with "Yuanzong of the Tang Dynasty".
The problem is that Li Jing, the emperor of the Southern Tang Dynasty in the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, had the temple name of Tang Yuanzong, which is easy to confuse. Duan Zhixuan, the famous founding general of the Tang Dynasty, was changed to Duan Zhiyuan by the Qing Dynasty. The problem was that there was a man named Duan Zhiyuan in Nanzhao during the Tang Dynasty. This artificially created a lot of trouble for historical research and made it a mess.
There is also an extreme "taboo avoidance" incident in history, which triggered a war in order to avoid taboos. On the southwest border of the Tang Dynasty, there was a small country named Nanzhao. As one of the many vassal states of the Tang Dynasty, Nanzhao has maintained tributary relations with the Tang Dynasty for generations, and all kings of the past dynasties have accepted canonization by the Tang Dynasty.
As the strength of both sides waxed and waned, several military conflicts broke out, but generally speaking, things were peaceful most of the time. However, during the reign of Tang Yizong, the Tang Dynasty and Nanzhao fought again, and a war broke out. The Tang Dynasty successively "promoted 50,000 soldiers from all walks of life" and launched an attack on Nanzhao.
However, at that time, the Tang Dynasty had reached the end of the Candeng and the end of the temple. There were few generals and the country was empty. With the respect of the great power of the Celestial Dynasty, they worked hard on expeditions, but they could never gain an advantage. Nanzhao used the small to defeat the big. "There is no peace when an army goes out," and as a result, "all men under fifteen were sent to the army, and women worked as farmers to pay the army." Both sides suffered heavy casualties, and both sides suffered losses.
The cause of the incident was that King Nanzhao refused to avoid changing his name. In the 13th year of Dazhong reign, King Quan Fengyou of Nanzhao died of illness and urged Fengyou's son to succeed him. According to historical practice, the Tang Dynasty did not interfere in the succession of the throne of the vassal countries, but the new king must accept the official canonization of the Tang Dynasty before he can legitimately have the right to rule the region.
At that time, Tang Yizong had just succeeded to the throne. An envoy from Nanzhao came to pay tribute and ask for a title. Tang Yizong was immediately displeased when he saw the signature of King Nanzhao on the memorial. This new king is the eighth king of Nanzhao. His name has three characters in it. I don’t know what his father thought at the beginning. Two of the three characters in his name offended the Tang Dynasty. The "temple taboo" of the emperor.
In fact, this is not surprising. Nanzhao uses Ailao and Chinese as its national languages. The language and writing habits are different from those in the Central Plains. In their eyes, the taboo system is neither understood nor necessary. . The name of this new king is "Meng Shilong". The word "Shi" offends the name taboo of Emperor Taizong Li Shimin, and the word "Long" offends the name taboo of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty Li Longji.
According to the taboo system of the Central Plains Dynasty, no one is allowed to use these two characters in their names. Yizong of the Tang Dynasty then issued an order to "exterminate tribute" on the grounds that Meng Shilong's name violated the temple taboos of Emperor Taizong and Emperor Xuanzong, severing the tributary relationship between the two parties, and not performing the ceremony of canonization. Go back and ask your leader to change his name.
Later, the prime minister of the Tang Dynasty, Du Xing, suggested to the emperor that Nanzhao was, after all, a remote place, far away from the Central Plains, with little information and lack of cultural governance. Maybe it was an unintentional mistake. For those who don’t know, If it is not a crime, people should be given a way to reform. Emperor Yizong of the Tang Dynasty also felt that this was an overreaction, and followed Du Tai's suggestion and sent an envoy to inform Nanzhao. "New Book of Tang Dynasty" records, "The imperial edict was also issued to Ciao Xin to express his disapproval of the name. It is not possible to register a person's name, and he must change his name to be granted a title." .
Make it clear to King Nanzhao that as soon as your name is changed, you will be canonized immediately. Tang Yizong also asked ministers full of literary talents to carefully consider and give Meng Shilong a new name: Piao Xin, a grand and elegant name.
Unexpectedly, King Meng Shilong of Nanzhao also had a stubborn temper. The "New Book of Tang" records that he "killed young and young". He was young and frivolous, violent and bloodthirsty.
When he heard that the Tang Dynasty refused to grant him the title, he also asked him to Meng Shilong was furious when he changed his name. He didn't care about the taboo system of the Central Plains Dynasty. My parents gave me a name. What's wrong with you? The emperor of the Tang Dynasty also deceived others too much! Don’t change it! The name is decided. If you don't canonize me, can I make myself emperor?
"So he arrogated the title of emperor and established the Yuan and the Ji". Tang Yizong was furious after hearing the news. He disobeyed and immediately sent troops to fight. I'll see if you change. A great war broke out. As a result, he fought intermittently for several years without any results, and Meng Shilong refused to change his name until his death. In the fourth year of Qianfu's reign, Meng Shilong fell seriously ill and died.
Before his death, he did not forget to provoke the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty again. The heir to the throne he determined was his son, whose name was Longshun. The rhythm that never gives up. At this time, the Tang Dynasty was already in turmoil and the world was in chaos. Eunuchs were monopolizing power and vassal towns were separatist. The following year, the Huangchao Uprising broke out and swept the world. No one was arguing about what was taboo or not.