Ancient Chinese literature advocates diseases that sages and relatives avoid.

In the Spring and Autumn Period, we were ashamed of respect, virtue and relatives. Gu liangchuan

In the feudal era of our country, in order to maintain the ruling order and strict feudal hierarchy, people could not directly say or write the names of emperors, officials and respected elders, but used other words or other ways (such as empty words or lack of pens) to show respect, which is the so-called taboo. Taboo is a unique custom in ancient China society and a unique cultural phenomenon. Some scholars have made a special study on China's taboo history, and published books such as China's Ancient Taboo History.

It is said that this taboo originated in the Zhou Dynasty. "Entry is forbidden, entry is vulgar, and entry is embarrassing." (On the Book of Rites and Quli) When you go to someone's house, you should first ask their last name. So as not to be rude in conversation because of taboo. Lu You described a story in Notes of Old Xuegong: "Heaven became a county, but kept its name secret. Anyone who touches him will be angry, and his officials and soldiers are often punished. So for the country, the light is fire. In the Yuan Dynasty, people were allowed to visit our state. The official then wrote a book list and published it in the city, saying,' The country set fire for three days as usual.' "Is a typical example of taboo. Understanding the taboo customs in China's history for thousands of years is very helpful to understand the origin of some words in modern Chinese, and also to know how the original clear language was confused in ancient times to avoid taboos.

Taboo, also known as taboo, is the title of ancient emperors or elders. "Taboo, taboo." (Shuo Wen Jie Zi) The feudal era was strictly hierarchical, and feudal ethics emphasized hierarchy. In order to show the superiority and inferiority, the hierarchical system of "monarch, minister, father, son and son" was strictly divided, and taboos came into being and reached the peak under the advocacy and promotion of the rulers. After thousands of years, it has become an important means to embody the hierarchical system and maintain the ethical order.

There are four kinds of taboo objects. First, emperors should avoid using the names of contemporary emperors and emperors of past dynasties, calling them "national taboos" or "public taboos". For example, during the Liu Xiu period, the scholar was changed to Cai Mao; Ganlong once wrote a letter to the door, saying that Five Blessingg was not allowed in the couplet, in order to avoid the name of the emperor shunzhi Fu Lin. Sometimes they even avoid using the queen's name, such as Lv Hou's name, and courtiers have to change their names to pheasants when they meet pheasants. Second, the chief executive, that is, subordinates should keep the names of the chief executive himself, his father and ancestors secret. Even some arrogant officials strictly ordered their subordinates and people to avoid their names, calling them "official taboos" or "constitutional taboos". The idiom "only state officials are allowed to set fires, and people are not allowed to light lamps" reflects the avoidance and taboo of officials. Third, sages, known as "sacred taboos", mainly refer to avoiding the name of sages Confucius and Mencius. Some dynasties also avoided using the name of Huangdi, the ancestor of the Chinese nation, while others avoided using the name of Duke Zhou or even the name of Laozi. For example, Confucius was named "Kong Qiu". In the Northern Song Dynasty, the court ordered that when reading the word "autumn", the word "A" should be pronounced and the word "autumn" should be circled with a red pen. This was especially true in the Qing Dynasty: from now on, all people with the surname "Qiu" in the world should add an ear next to them and change their surname to "Qiu", and they should pronounce "seven" instead of "Qiu". As a result, the world surname "Qiu" was renamed from now on. Today, there are people with the surname "Qiu" and others with the surname "Qiu". The reason is that some have changed, and some have changed back to the original word "autumn". Fourth, elders, that is, avoiding the names of parents and grandparents, are called "family taboos" or "private taboos". When dealing with people, it is very impolite to avoid the taboos of the other elders. Li He, a poet in the Tang Dynasty, had a father named Jin, and "Jin" and "Jin" are homonyms, so Li He could not be a scholar all his life. Sima Qian's father was called "Sima Tan", so in Historical Records, everyone with the same name as his father changed his name. For example, "Zhang Mengtan" was changed to "Zhang Mengtong"; "Zhao Tan" was changed to "Zhao Tong". Later, the same was true of Ye Fan, the author of Han Shu in the Later Han Dynasty. Because Ye Fan's father was called Fan Tai, in Han Shu in the Later Han Dynasty, Guo Tai was turned into Guo Tai unnoticed. This man named "Qin Zheng" has also become "Zheng Tai". Another example is the Tang Dynasty poet Du Fu. His father's name is Du Xian. In order to avoid the taboo of "leisure", Du Fu has been writing poems all his life, but he has never used the word "leisure" in his poems. Du Fu's mother's name is Haitang, and there is no Haitang poem in Du Ji, so she avoids her mother's name.

Taboo mainly has three forms:

The first is to change words. If you come across words that should be avoided, use other words. This taboo method appeared earlier and more common. For example, Qin Shihuang hated politics, and the Qin Dynasty corrected the month to the end of the month. "At the end of the month, in the first month. Qin taboo politics, so yue Duan. " (Historical Records) Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty was taboo. The legendary wife Ji 'e was renamed Chang 'e, Emperor Guangwu of the Han Dynasty was ashamed to show off, and the scholar was renamed Mao Cai. In the Qing Dynasty, the Holy Father was afraid of Michelle Ye, and the Xuanwu Gate in the north gate of the Forbidden City was renamed Shenwumen.

The second is empty talk. If you encounter words that should be taboo in writing, use spaces (words), boxes, or words such as "taboo" and "certain". In Shuo Wen Jie Zi, Xu Shen didn't give any explanation when he met the taboo of today's emperor, but wrote the word "taboo". Such as "show, taboo".

The third is the lack of pens. When you encounter words that should be avoided, write one or two less. Usually the last one or two. For example, during the Yongzheng period of the Qing Dynasty, whenever a book encounters the word "autumn", a pen is indispensable. For example, the word "autumn" in a name or place name is changed to "autumn". The second time in A Dream of Red Mansions, "Leng Zixing gave a speech in Fu": "Yucun laughed and said,' I blame this female student for reading the word' people' in books and reading it as' rice'. Every time she does this, she loses one or two strokes when she meets the word' min', and my heart is a little confused. Now I hear what you said, that's why ...' "

The taboo custom lasted for more than 1000 years in the ancient history of China. The rules and requirements of taboos in past dynasties were different. Some dynasties were relatively loose, while others were very strict. Generally speaking, after the Tang Dynasty, taboos were highly valued. In order to consolidate their dominant position, all previous dynasties paid great attention to taboos. Tang Gaozu's grandfather was called Li Hu, so he couldn't be called a tiger in the Tang Dynasty. As a result, the tiger was replaced by the words "beast" and "tiger". "Nothing ventured, nothing gained" has become "nothing ventured, nothing gained"; "Painting a tiger is not against a dog" means "painting a dragon is not against a dog". Even the name "tiger" can't be called, but it's called "blade". After Song Taizu acceded to the throne, it was stipulated that the names of all ancestors should be taboo, because their ancestors. And you can't use words with the same sound or similar names. Zhao Kuangyin's grandfather was famous for his respect, so in the Song Dynasty, he was not called a mirror, but a mirror. Ming Wuzong, surnamed Zhu, was a pig, so in fourteen years he issued an imperial edict prohibiting private pig raising. He thinks it is disrespectful to the emperor to raise and kill pigs. Unexpectedly, a few years later, almost all the pigs in the country were cut down, so that the pigs used to worship the Temple of Heaven and Earth in festivals could not be found. Later, due to the exhortation of ministers, he had to cancel this ridiculous ban. This is true of national taboos, even family taboos, which the ancients attached great importance to. The examples of Li He and Du Fu mentioned above are numerous in history. Su Xun, a famous writer in the Northern Song Dynasty, changed the preface to Quotations because of his father's preface. When his son Su Shi prefaced others, he changed his name to "Xu".

Every time a new dynasty is established, there are new national taboos. After the new emperor ascended the throne, one or two taboo words should be added. If it is a short-lived dynasty, there are not many words to avoid when changing dynasties. But if it is a long-lasting dynasty, before the end of the dynasty, the accumulated taboo words are often considerable. Until the end of a dynasty, all once taboo words can be reused. Due to the taboo of a dynasty, with the passage of time, the number of taboo words often doubles. This has caused great inconvenience for people to write articles, especially in the imperial examinations. A little carelessness, touching taboo words, the lighter loses the election, the heavier is convicted, and even leads to death, even involving nine families. In the history of China, there are still some things whose names have been completely changed because of repeated prohibitions, and it is difficult for future generations to find their traces. For example, in the literature before the Tang Dynasty, it was recorded that there was a plant called "Dioscorea". In the late Tang Dynasty, Tang Daizong Li Yu acceded to the throne, so it was renamed "Potato Medicine". After entering the Song Dynasty, Song Yingzong acceded to the throne and was renamed "Yam". Some surnames were changed to other surnames because of the emperor's taboo. Such as the Zhuang family, because of avoiding Liu Zhuang, the emperor Gaozu of Han Dynasty, it was changed to Yanshi, such as the Eastern Han Dynasty, whose real name was Zhuang; Ji, because of avoiding the taboo of Tang Xuanzong, changed to Zhou; Because I avoided the taboo of the Spring Calendar, I changed my surname to Yu. Not only did they change their surnames, but so did those who changed their names because of taboos. For example, Confucius, a descendant of Confucius who lived in the late Western Han Dynasty, was renamed Kong Jun because Wang Mang usurped the throne of Han Dynasty. Pei Shizhen, the prime minister of the early Tang Dynasty, went to the "world" and was called Pei Ju because he avoided the name of Taizong. Even if they are gods, some people change their names because they avoid national taboos. For example, Guanyin Bodhisattva in Buddhism is called Guanyin Bodhisattva because it avoids the name of Emperor Taizong and omits the word "world". Because of taboos, not only the living have to change their names, but even the dead are not spared. For example, Kuaiche, a counselor in Qin and Han Dynasties, was called Kuai Tong in Historical Records and Hanshu, because Liu Che, the Emperor of the Han Dynasty, acceded to the throne after his death. In the Southern Qi Dynasty, General Xue Daoyuan was called Xue Yuan only because he avoided Xiao Daocheng, the ancestor of Qi State, and avoided the name "Dao". However, when compiling the History of the South, the Tang people renamed it Shen Xue to avoid the name of Tang Gaozu Li Yuan, which made it difficult for later readers to recognize. Ancient place names were also renamed because of taboo; For example, Qin Shihuang's father, Wang Xiang of Qin Zhuang, was afraid of Chu. After Qin Shihuang proclaimed himself emperor, he ordered that Chuzhou, Hubei Province be renamed Jingzhou. Sima Yedengji, the last emperor of the Western Jin Dynasty, and Jianye (now Nanjing, Jiangsu Province) was renamed Jiankang. After the Five Dynasties, Emperor Li of the Tang Dynasty ascended the throne. Because of his father's name Guo Chang, Xiaochang County was changed to Xiaogan County.

The above three ways of taboo were invented by the ancients in the long-term practice of taboo, which met the needs of order and vanity at that time, but brought great trouble to future generations. Changing words and empty words often make it difficult for future generations to infer the original words and even understand mistakes; Lack of pen is more likely to lead to pronunciation errors of other words. For example, Li Dan of Tang Ruizong, if the last stroke is omitted, will become the word "day". Because of taboos, even some customary appellations in social life have been changed beyond recognition. For example, a bird named pheasant was recorded in the pre-Qin literature. In the Western Han Dynasty, this bird had to be renamed "Pheasant" because of the name of Lv Hou. Empress Dowager Cixi, like Lv Hou, was a sheep in the late Qing Dynasty, so she ordered that no one should say anything like "raising sheep, killing sheep and eating mutton". But Empress Dowager Cixi was greedy and had to eat mutton. Then he ordered that "mutton" be called "longevity meat" and "longevity meat", which was ridiculous. Fortunately, Cixi's "longevity meat" and "longevity meat" were not accepted by future generations like pheasants.

In the era when feudal monarchy was above everything else, taboos were interpreted to a ridiculous extent. Emperor Wen of the Jin Dynasty was named "Zhao", and no one else was allowed to use the word "Zhao". Even the ancient Wang Zhaojun had to be renamed. The name of Emperor Wu of Jin was Sima Ye, so the word "Ye" was monopolized by the emperor, and even the place name "Jianye" (now Nanjing) was renamed "Jiankang". When Tang Gaozong was called Li Zhi, the word "rule" became a unique word of the emperor, and all words with the same sound as "rule" should be changed. In writing, all the words that encounter "governance" are rewritten into synonyms such as "persistence" and "reason". The word "naive" is homophonic with "cured", so wherever "naive" is used, "young" should be used instead. Fortunately, there are many synonyms in Chinese, otherwise I really don't know what to do. The prince of Tang Gaozong is called Jong Li, so the word "loyalty" is also taboo. North Korea's official name for many years was "Commander of Corps" and it was also ordered to be changed to "Brigadier". In the Song Dynasty, the taboo reached an incredible level, and homonyms and near-phonemes should also be taboo. Song Renzong's name is "steamed" which is similar to "true" should also be avoided. The word "steamed" in "steamed dry rice" should be changed to "boiled". For example, in Water Margin, the cakes sold by Wu Dalang used to be steamed, but now they are no longer called steamed cakes, but changed to "boiled cakes". Song Huizong is a dog, so all dogs in the world are lucky. Killing dogs is forbidden in the world. Zhao Gou, a native of Song Gaozong, has changed his surname in Sichuan because his name is Gou, and all surnames are not allowed to be called Gou again. In order to avoid the word "structure", there are more than 50 homophones such as "enough", "love", "purchase" and "Li".

There are also many forbidden jokes. In the Southern Song Dynasty, there was a minister named Qian. It is inevitable that his son will remain anonymous to his father. Whenever he comes across the word "Chen Liang" in reading, his son changes his name to "Dad". One day, when I was reading Mencius, I found that "today's good minister is a thief of the ancient times", so I read aloud in front of my father: "today's father is a thief of the ancient times". During the Five Dynasties, Feng Dao, who was eloquent, went through five generations, called himself a "tumbler" and called himself "Changle Lao". One day, he asked a doorman to tell him the Tao Te Ching. In order to avoid it, the doorman even said, "I dare not say, but I dare not say." I dare not say. " Everyone present laughed their heads off. When Yuan Shikai engaged in the restoration of monarchy, the word "Yuan Mei" had to be erased from the wall of Beijing Coal Shop. Isn't the homonym of "yuan coal" "yuan coal"? Yuanxiao sounds like Yuan Xiao, which is even worse, so Yuanxiao was changed to Tangyuan. Sheng Xuanhuai, who organized the Westernization for Li Hongzhang, was the biggest bureaucratic capitalist in modern times. This man is partial to ham, and some people like it. He sent two Yunnan Xuanwei hams, and the gift card said "A pair of legs were announced". A word "Xuan" violated his taboo and said bitterly, "Take away everything that announces your legs!" In order to avoid taboo, famous specialties are also looked down upon.

It can be said that the case of renaming due to taboo in ancient times involves all aspects of social life. This taboo custom brought great inconvenience to ancient social life. National taboos not only embody the characteristics of autocratic rule, but also bring difficulties for modern people to study the ancient history of China. However, because taboo has a strong time limit, the appearance and disappearance of a taboo word have a clear time limit. This also provides a reliable basis for future generations to identify fake historical materials, especially cultural relics identification.