On taboo

Taboo is a unique cultural phenomenon in China. It originated from the belief of ancient people in ghosts and gods. Primitive society thought that name was a part of the body and language was the source of good or bad. It caters to the ancient people's fear of superstition by avoiding telling some names and things.

Taboo is the earliest way to express fear and respect by avoiding names. This cognition also directly promoted the appearance of "word". At first, the ancients were also famous without words. The first name is the code given by parents when the child is born, which is convenient to call. Therefore, people who call their children by their first names are usually very close to their parents and elders. So in ancient times, we can see such a phenomenon: when an adult hears someone calling him by his first name, if he is a stranger, he will be very angry, because it is a very impolite performance, but if he is familiar with it, he will be very happy, and those who can accept him by his first name are often very close when he was a child.

Swearing is so taboo that the word "word" naturally comes into being. Ancient men held a crown ceremony at the age of twenty and called it "Zi". In order to show respect, this name is no longer used by peers. Xia and Shang dynasties were not so particular. At that time, people were named simply, and heavenly stems and earthly branches was often added to their names. For example, we are familiar with Xia and Shang emperors, such as (Xia Jie), Wuyi, Pan Geng, Xiao Xin and so on.

There are three kinds of taboos in the Zhou Dynasty: the venerable, the relative and the sage. Under this principle, national taboos, family taboos, internal taboos, constitutional taboos and personal taboos gradually appear.

National taboo refers to the taboo that all subjects of the country, even the emperor himself, must abide by. Qin Shihuang himself was born in the first month and was named "Zhao Zheng (Zhao Zheng)". In the agricultural calendar of Qin dynasty, in order to avoid the taboo of the first emperor, the "first month" was changed to "end of the month". In the Han Dynasty, in order to avoid the great ancestor Liu Bang, the word "harmony among nations" in history books was changed to "harmony among nations". Emperor Guangwu of Han Dynasty named him "Liu Xiu", so the scholar at that time was renamed as "Cai Mao".

Taboo refers to avoiding mentioning the names of fathers and ancestors in the family. The most regrettable example is Li He, who was called "Shi Gui" in the Tang Dynasty. Because his father's name is "Jin Su" and the pronunciation of "Jin" is the same, he failed to enter the Jinshi in his life. Brilliant as he is, he is useless. He died of depression at the age of 27 because of frustration.

In fact, taboos are also family taboos, but the difference is that the mother's name is avoided, so taboos are also "women's taboos." This situation is the most common in the Han Dynasty, and the most typical one is the word "pheasant". Before the Han Dynasty, the pheasant was called pheasant, but because Lv Hou's real name was Lv Zhi, the pheasant was forbidden to be used as a queen, so it was changed to pheasant.

Constitutional taboo refers to the taboo of the names of superiors and officials. Avoiding the anonymity of higher-level officials has existed throughout the ages, especially in the Song Dynasty, which caused many jokes. Among them, we are familiar with the phrase "only state officials can set fires, and people are not allowed to light lamps", just to avoid jokes made by superiors. In the Song Dynasty, there was a state official named Tian Deng who didn't even mention the word "wait", otherwise he would be severely punished. So people in that county changed the word "light" to "fire". Lantern Festival lights up as usual, so the state official posted a notice in the market: "The state government will set fire for three days as usual." The original "Lantern Festival will light for three days" was abruptly changed to "Lantern Festival will be set on fire for three days", and people who saw the notice regarded it as a joke and widely praised it.

Personal taboos are taboos about one's own name. This kind of self-denial is nothing more than self-promotion. Like avoiding the name of the emperor, the name of the ancestor is actually a personal taboo.