Naming taboo

From Wikipedia, the miễn phí encyclopedia

Naming taboo

Chinese name

Traditional Chinese

避諱

Simplified Chinese

避讳

Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin	bìhuì
Bopomofo	ㄅㄧˋ ㄏㄨㄟˋ
Wade–Giles	pi4hui4
Yue: Cantonese
Jyutping	bei6 wai5
Southern Min
Tâi-lô	pī-huì

Vietnamese name

Vietnamese alphabet

kỵ húy

Hán-Nôm

忌諱

Korean name

Hangul

피휘

Hanja

避諱

Transcriptions
Revised Romanization	pihwi
McCune–Reischauer	p'ihwi

Japanese name

Kanji

避諱

Hiragana

ひき

Transcriptions
Revised Hepburn	hiki

A naming taboo is a cultural taboo against speaking or writing the given names of exalted persons, notably in Đài Loan Trung Quốc and within the Chinese cultural sphere. It was enforced by several laws throughout Imperial Đài Loan Trung Quốc, but its cultural and possibly religious origins predate the Qin dynasty. Not respecting the appropriate naming taboos was considered a sign of lacking education and respect, and brought shame both to tướng the offender and the offended person.

Bạn đang xem: huy ky la gi

Types[edit]

The naming taboo of the state (國諱 guóhuì) discouraged the use of the emperor's given name and those of his ancestors. For example, during the Qin Dynasty, Qin Shi Huang's given name 政 Zhèng (< *‍OC B-S: *teŋ-s) was avoided, and the first month of the year, the upright month (正月; Zhèngyuè) had its pronunciation modified to tướng Zhēngyuè (OC B-S: *teŋ, lượt thích 征 "to go on a long journey, to tướng go on a military campaign")^[1] and then further renamed as the proper/upright month (端月; 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 and wrote the Qianlong Emperor's name without leaving out any stroke as required. This disrespect resulted in his and his family's executions and confiscation of their property.^[2] This type of naming taboo is no longer observed in modern Đài Loan Trung Quốc.^{[citation needed]}
The naming taboo of the clan (家諱) discouraged the use of the names of one's own ancestors. Generally, ancestor names going back to tướng seven generations were avoided. In diplomatic documents and letters between clans, each clan's naming taboos were observed.
The naming taboo of the holinesses (聖人諱) discouraged the use of the names of respected people. For example, writing the name of Confucius was taboo during the Jin Dynasty.

Methods to tướng avoid offense[edit]

There were three ways to tướng avoid using a taboo character:

Changing the character to tướng another, usually a synonym or one which sounded similar to tướng the character being avoided. For example, the Black Warrior Gate (玄武門; Xuanwu Gate) of the Forbidden City was renamed the Gate of Divine Might (神武門; Shenwu Gate) in order to tướng avoid using a character from the Kangxi Emperor's name, Xuanye (玄燁).
Leaving the character as a blank.
Omitting a stroke in the character, usually the final stroke.

In history[edit]

Throughout Chinese history, there were emperors whose names contained common characters who would try to tướng alleviate the burden of the populace in practicing name avoidance. For example, Emperor Xuan of Han, whose given name Bingyi (病已) contained two very common characters, changed his name to tướng Xun (詢), a far less common character, with the stated purpose of making it easier for his people to tướng avoid using his name.^[3] Similarly, Emperor Taizong of Tang, whose given name Shimin (世民) 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 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 tướng change his name to tướng Li Ji.^[4] In later dynasties, princes were frequently given names that contained uncommon characters to tướng make it easier for the public to tướng avoid them, should they become emperor later in life.

Xem thêm: đứa bé không phải con của anh

During the rule of the Ming Emperor of Han (Liu Zhuang), whose personal name was Zhuang, most people with surname Zhuang (莊) were ordered to tướng change their names to tướng its synonym Yan (嚴).^[5]

The custom of naming taboo had a built-in contradiction: without knowing what the emperors' names were, one could hardly be expected to tướng avoid them, thus somehow the emperors' names had to tướng be informally transmitted to tướng the populace to tướng allow them to tướng take cognizance of and thus avoid using said characters. In one famous incident in 435, during the Northern Wei Dynasty, Goguryeo ambassadors made a formal request that the imperial government issue them a document containing the emperors' names sánh 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.^[6] However, the mechanism of how the regular populace would be able to tướng learn the emperors' names remained generally unclear throughout Chinese history.

Xem thêm: truyện trò chơi chinh phục

This taboo is important to tướng 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 tướng 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[edit]

Japan was also influenced by the naming taboo. In modern nhật bản, it concerns only the successive Emperors. For example, whether oral or written, people only refer to tướng the reigning Emperor as Tennō Heika (天皇陛下; his Majesty the Emperor) or Kinjō Heika (今上陛下; his current Majesty). See also Posthumous name.
Historically, it was considered very rude among upper class to tướng gọi someone else's real name, even if it was the lord calling his vassals. Calling someone else's real name was equivalent to tướng 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 tướng Huỳnh in the South due to tướng the naming taboo of Lord Nguyễn Hoàng's name. Similarly, the family name "Vũ" (武) is known as "Võ" in the South.^[7] There is also the name Phúc (福) being changed to tướng Phước in the South to tướng avoid the naming taboo of Nguyễn Phúc.