Taboos and Taboos in Names

Probably few people know the idiom "only state officials are allowed to set fires, but people are not allowed to light lamps". Literally, officials are allowed to set fires and run amok, but people are not allowed to light lamps at night. The related fact is that the Northern Song Dynasty Changzhou satrap called Tian Deng was very tyrannical and arrogant, and those crooked ways were even more extravagant. No, because there is a word "Deng" in his name, people in the state are not allowed to say anything with the same pronunciation as "Deng" in conversation, and the word "lamp" has the same pronunciation as "Deng", so the people under his administration have to keep up with the suffering, and they can't say it anyway. This is the real origin and trend of "no one is allowed to light a lamp". In short, as long as it is homophonic with the word "Deng" (not to mention the word "Deng"), it must be replaced by other words. Anyone who violates the private taboo of this bumpkin will be charged with "insulting the local governor", ranging from imprisonment to beating the board. Even government officials and civil servants must seriously abide by this exclusive rule, otherwise they will be punished.

The poet Lu You was surprised when he learned about it, so he recorded it in Volume 5 of Notes on Old Learning Temple. Back to the seventy-seventh time in A Dream of Red Mansions, "But you only allow state officials to set fires, and people are not allowed to light lamps". If we occasionally say something that gets in your way, you will say it is unlucky. " It feels like an idiom from ordinary people-it can be seen that events such as heaven have a great influence.

To tell the truth, this guy is stubborn and arrogant, but the result of many people being beaten or even sentenced by the board cannot be completely attributed to him. Why? These arbitrary pressures have existed in our cultural traditions for thousands of years, even in folk taboos.

I still remember when I was a child at school. There is a classmate whose grandfather is called "monk"-it should be a nickname. Otherwise, there will be no descendants-if someone calls this word in the mouth of his classmates, it is equivalent to scolding his ancestors (calling each other's parents is a curse). It is common for children to say and do things. The problem is that "monk" as a person's name is very scarce directly, so when it comes to children, they come out to find reasons to provoke each other. Both interesting and exciting. In the third generation, it is still so taboo here, but the previous generation, that is, the father's generation, is more particular. It is necessary for the whole family not to say the word "monk". If others deliberately beat around the bush, calling out "baldness", "light ball", "baldness" and "light doesn't flow" are all regarded as joking and laughing, which is naturally a provocation.

Ha, it's very much like Sky Lantern a thousand years ago.

Admittedly, this is our cultural tradition. The Book of Rites Tan Gong said, "I cried and kept it a secret", which means that after the elder died, the younger generation cried in front of the spirit, and later generations can't casually mention the elder's name. If it must be involved, do it in a taboo way.

As a result, the following real situation appeared: Sima Qian, a famous figure, wrote Historical Records, and changed "Zhao Tan" to "Zhao Tong" because of his father's surname, and changed "Li Tan" unrelated to my father's surname to "Li Tong". During the Six Dynasties, someone renamed the buttonwood tree "White Cycas" to avoid the word "Tung". Later generations of Yue Fei avoided "flying" and made "flying". In the Qing Dynasty, Liu Wencuo never listened to Yue again because of his father's name. Haha, that's an affront to his father's spirit in heaven. It can be seen that the family taboos in previous dynasties were strict. Until now, children are still forbidden to call their elders by their first names, let alone their birth names, and words with the same or homophonic names are also taboo. This is true not only between elders in the family, but also between elders and apprentices. As the saying goes, "a son doesn't say his father's name, and a disciple doesn't say his teacher's taboo" means this.

In short, there were many such taboos when people named their children earlier. In addition to avoiding homonyms, avoiding homonyms with the names of ancestors and elders, we should also consider the conflict of fate and so on. For example, if you are short of gold, you should avoid using fire or the words next to it. In short, the eight characters of life should not be named after the words of mutual forgiveness. Children also have nicknames. According to Zhang's History of China Customs, the nickname "posthumous title" often changed his name and kept his nickname taboo. "This is still popular today. In my hometown, nicknames can only be called by elders and close peers; Not to mention the younger generation, even the peers, it is absolutely blatant disrespect to call each other by nicknames if they are not very familiar. Some old feudalists in the village thought that the nicknames of the younger generation called their elders would be heard by ghosts and their souls would be taken away by ghosts, so they resolutely avoided them and stood ready.

There are as many as 160 words in Yuan Dian, and these words are too disreputable to be counted. "Avoid" what, the names of emperors and nobles. The strictness of taboos in Ming and Qing dynasties can be described as the pinnacle. Taboo has become an important part of literary prison cases, and people are often beheaded for it. The methods of taboo include changing words, avoiding sounds, empty talk, lack of pens and so on. As we all know, taboo thinking is the main factor of intense literary inquisition in Qing Dynasty.

In the folk, when naming a baby, we should also pay attention to some other factors, such as convenience, title, convenience, toilet, stool and so on. "Qing Ren Leipai" said: "The curse words of northerners have the word" egg ",which means asshole, noisy egg, inverted egg and yellow turtle egg. Because Yao Zhuan has the word" egg ",it should be avoided. Eggs are called chickens, preserved eggs are called Songhua, scrambled eggs are called spreading yellow vegetables, eggs are called slipping yellow vegetables, whole eggs are cooked until cooked, and egg flower soup is called osmanthus soup. Osmanthus fragrans, Osmanthus fragrans, egg flowers are as yellow as Osmanthus fragrans. The cake is called a trough cake, which means to enter the trough when making a cake. " But eggs cooked only with tea leaves are not taboo, so they are called tea eggs. Northerners swear in the street with an extra word "egg", such as asshole, fucking egg, upside-down egg, bastard and so on. According to reports, the egg book refers to a man's testicles, not his genitals, so it also means blasphemy and curse in the language of swearing. After the extension, the "eggs" on the dining table also followed the class. Eggs are called chicken, preserved eggs are called Songhua, scrambled eggs are called yellow vegetables, and eggs are called yellow vegetables. The boiled whole egg is called lying fruit, the egg drop soup is called osmanthus, and the egg drop is as yellow as osmanthus, so it is called. Cake is called trough cake, which means to go into the trough when making a cake. Only tea eggs have not been renamed). Look, the name of food is still so concerned. If there is an "egg" in that person's name, isn't it equivalent to death?

In rural areas, there are many stories about recognizing relatives of monks, referring to their stomachs as marriage, making friends from the past to the present, making appointments for children's in-laws, and so on. Just say become sworn brothers. Generally speaking, the status of "second brother" is certainly not as good as that of "big brother", right? In Shandong, they try to be the "second child" and avoid being called "big brother". If you think about it a little, you will know that the different experiences of "Wu Dalang" and "Takejiro" are related. In addition, children's names, such as "turtle", "turtle", "turtle", "snake and scorpion", "pig", "donkey" and similar images and pronunciations should also be kept away as far as possible.