Naming taboo
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

A naming taboo is a cultural
taboo A taboo is a social group's ban, prohibition or avoidance of something (usually an utterance or behavior) based on the group's sense that it is excessively repulsive, offensive, sacred or allowed only for certain people.''Encyclopædia Britannica ...
against speaking or writing the given names of exalted persons, notably in
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
and within the Chinese cultural sphere. It was enforced by several laws throughout Imperial China, but its cultural and possibly religious origins predate the
Qin dynasty The Qin dynasty ( ) was the first Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China. It is named for its progenitor state of Qin, a fief of the confederal Zhou dynasty (256 BC). Beginning in 230 BC, the Qin under King Ying Zheng enga ...
. Not respecting the appropriate naming taboos was considered a sign of lacking education and respect, and brought shame both to the offender and the offended person.


Types

* The ''naming taboo of the state'' ( ''guóhuì'') discouraged the use of the emperor's given name and those of his ancestors. For example, during the
Qin dynasty The Qin dynasty ( ) was the first Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China. It is named for its progenitor state of Qin, a fief of the confederal Zhou dynasty (256 BC). Beginning in 230 BC, the Qin under King Ying Zheng enga ...
,
Qin Shi Huang Qin Shi Huang (, ; February 25912 July 210 BC), born Ying Zheng () or Zhao Zheng (), was the founder of the Qin dynasty and the first emperor of China. He is widely regarded as the first ever supreme leader of a unitary state, unitary d ...
's given name Zhèng (< B-S: *''teŋ-s'') was avoided, and the first month of the year, the ''upright month'' (; ''Zhèngyuè'') had its pronunciation modified to ''Zhēngyuè'' (OC B-S: *''teŋ'', like "to go on a long journey, to go on a military campaign") and then further renamed as the ''proper/upright month'' (; ''Duānyuè'' < OC, B-S *''tˤor'']). The strength of this taboo was reinforced by law; transgressors could expect serious punishment for writing an emperor's name without modifications. In 1777, Wang Xihou, in his dictionary, criticized the
Kangxi dictionary The ''Kangxi Dictionary'' () is a Chinese dictionary published in 1716 during the High Qing, considered from the time of its publishing until the early 20th century to be the most authoritative reference for written Chinese characters. Wanting ...
and wrote the
Qianlong Emperor The Qianlong Emperor (25 September 17117 February 1799), also known by his temple name Emperor Gaozong of Qing, personal name Hongli, was the fifth Emperor of China, emperor of the Qing dynasty and the fourth Qing emperor to rule over China pr ...
's name without leaving out any stroke as required. This disrespect resulted in his and his family's executions and confiscation of their property (though all Wang Xihou's relatives were pardoned and spared execution). This type of naming taboo is no longer observed in modern China. * The ''naming taboo of the clan'' () discouraged the use of the names of one's own ancestors. Generally, ancestor names going back to seven generations were avoided. In diplomatic documents and letters between clans, each clan's naming taboos were observed. * The ''naming taboo of the holinesses'' () discouraged the use of the names of respected people. For example, writing the name of
Confucius Confucius (; pinyin: ; ; ), born Kong Qiu (), was a Chinese philosopher of the Spring and Autumn period who is traditionally considered the paragon of Chinese sages. Much of the shared cultural heritage of the Sinosphere originates in the phil ...
was taboo during the Jin dynasty.


Methods to avoid offense

There were three ways to avoid using a taboo character: * Changing the character to another, usually a
synonym A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means precisely or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are a ...
or one which sounded similar to the character being avoided. For example, the Black Warrior Gate (; Xuanwu Gate) of the
Forbidden City The Forbidden City () is the Chinese Empire, imperial Chinese palace, palace complex in the center of the Imperial City, Beijing, Imperial City in Beijing, China. It was the residence of 24 Ming dynasty, Ming and Qing dynasty, Qing dynasty L ...
was renamed the Gate of Divine Might (神武門; Shenwu Gate) in order to avoid using a character from the
Kangxi Emperor The Kangxi Emperor (4 May 165420 December 1722), also known by his temple name Emperor Shengzu of Qing, personal name Xuanye, was the third emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the second Qing emperor to rule over China proper. His reign of 61 ...
's name, Xuanye (). * Leaving the character as a blank. * Omitting a stroke in the character, usually the final stroke.


In history

Throughout Chinese history, there were emperors whose names contained common characters who would try to alleviate the burden of the populace in practicing name avoidance. For example,
Emperor Xuan of Han Emperor Xuan of Han (; 91 BC – 10 January 48 BC), born Liu Bingyi (劉病已), was the tenth emperor of the Han dynasty, reigning from 74 to 48 BC, and was one of the only four Western Han emperors to receive a temple name (along with Empero ...
, whose given name Bingyi () contained two very common characters, changed his name to Xun (), a far less common character, with the stated purpose of making it easier for his people to avoid using his name. Similarly,
Emperor Taizong of Tang Emperor Taizong of Tang (28January 59810July 649), previously Prince of Qin, personal name Li Shimin, was the second emperor of the Tang dynasty of China, ruling from 626 to 649. He is traditionally regarded as a co-founder of the dynasty fo ...
, whose given name Shimin () also contained two very common characters, ordered that name avoidance only required the avoidance of the characters ''Shi'' and ''Min'' in direct succession and that it did not require the avoidance of those characters in isolation. However, Emperor Taizong's son
Emperor Gaozong of Tang Emperor Gaozong of Tang (21 July 628 – 27 December 683), personal name Li Zhi, was the third Emperor of China, emperor of the Chinese Tang dynasty, ruling from 649 to 683; after January 665, he handed power over the empire to his second wife ...
effectively made this edict ineffective after his death, by requiring the complete avoidance of the characters ''Shi'' and ''Min'', necessitating the chancellor Li Shiji to change his name to Li Ji. In later dynasties, princes were frequently given names that contained uncommon characters to make it easier for the public to avoid them, should they become emperor later in life. During the rule of the Ming Emperor of Han (Liu Zhuang), whose personal name was Zhuang, most people with surname Zhuang () were ordered to change their names to its synonym Yan (). The custom of naming taboo had a built-in contradiction: without knowing what the emperors' names were, one could hardly be expected to avoid them, thus somehow the emperors' names had to be informally transmitted to the populace to allow them to take cognizance of and thus avoid using said characters. In one famous incident in 435, during the
Northern Wei Wei (), known in historiography as the Northern Wei ( zh, c=北魏, p=Běi Wèi), Tuoba Wei ( zh, c=拓跋魏, p=Tuòbá Wèi), Yuan Wei ( zh, c=元魏, p=Yuán Wèi) and Later Wei ( zh, t=後魏, p=Hòu Wèi), was an Dynasties of China, impe ...
dynasty,
Goguryeo Goguryeo (37 BC – 668 AD) (; ; Old Korean: Guryeo) also later known as Goryeo (; ; Middle Korean: 고ᇢ롕〮, ''kwòwlyéy''), was a Korean kingdom which was located on the northern and central parts of the Korea, Korean Peninsula an ...
ambassadors made a formal request that the imperial government issue them a document containing the emperors' names so that they could avoid offending the emperor while submitting their king's petition. Emperor Taiwu of Northern Wei agreed and issued them such a document.''Zizhi Tongjian'', vol. 122. However, the mechanism of how the regular populace would be able to learn the emperors' names remained generally unclear throughout Chinese history. This taboo is important to keep in mind when studying ancient historical texts from the cultural sphere, as historical characters and/or locations may be renamed if they happen to share a name with the emperor in power (or previous emperors of the same dynasty) when the text was written. Thus, the study of naming taboos can also help date an ancient text.


In other countries

Japan was also influenced by the naming taboo. In modern Japan, it concerns only the successive emperors. For example, whether oral or written, people only refer to the reigning emperor as Tennō Heika (; his Majesty the Emperor) or Kinjō Heika (; his current Majesty). See also
posthumous name A posthumous name is an honorary Personal name, name given mainly to revered dead people in East Asian cultural sphere, East Asian culture. It is predominantly used in Asian countries such as China, Korea, Vietnam, Japan, Malaysia and Thailand. ...
.
Historically, it was considered very rude among upper class to call someone else's real name, even if it was the lord calling his vassals. Calling someone else's real name was equivalent to picking a fight. Titles or pseudonyms were often used when calling others in place of their real names. In Vietnam, the family name Hoàng (黃) was changed to Huỳnh in the
South South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...
due to the naming taboo of Lord Nguyễn Hoàng's name. Similarly, the family name " " (武) is known as "Võ" in the South. There is also the name Phúc (福) being changed to Phước in the South to avoid the naming taboo of Nguyễn Phúc.


See also

* Imperial examination in Chinese mythology, example *
Names of God in Judaism Judaism has different names given to God in Judaism, God, which are considered sacred: (), (''Adonai'' ), (''El (deity), El'' ), ( ), (''El Shaddai, Shaddai'' ), and ( ); some also include I Am that I Am.This is the formulation of Josep ...
, similar taboo * Taboo against naming the dead, similar taboo in many cultures * , not naming as a mark of disrespect.


References


Further reading

*陳垣 hen Yuan《史諱舉例》 xamples of Taboos in History- the pioneering work in the field, written during the early 20th century, numerous editions {{Authority control Chinese culture Naming Taboo East Asian traditions