Taboos can generally be divided into two categories: first, public taboos, that is, taboos formulated by the state to force its subjects, such as avoiding the names of emperors and Confucius; The second is private taboo, which is the taboo of literati on the names of their elders.
In the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the scholar-officials were proud of being good at avoiding private affairs. Wang Hong, a Liu Song Taibao in the Southern Dynasties, was proficient in genealogy and could "treat thousands of guests every day without committing any taboo", which was actually praised as a beautiful talk at that time. In the Tang Dynasty, taboo became a law promulgated by the government, and many people lost their jobs and careers because of careless taboo. Li He, a famous poet, whose father's name is Jin Su, is considered to be unable to enter Jinshi because of the homonym of "Jin". Although Han Yu helped him write "Taboo Debate" to defend him, Li He finally failed to get into the Jinshi. Taboos (taboos expressing deep hatred) first arose in the Tang Dynasty. After the Anshi Rebellion, Tang Suzong hated the name of An Lushan and changed Anhua County to Hue County, and Baoan County in Guangdong Province to Dongguan County.
Song dynasty was the most taboo dynasty, and the temple taboo reached 50 words. In the imperial examination, my son "brought a test paper, which was not suspected, but he dared not use it." If he makes a mistake, he often falls down in the dark and loses the chance to win the list. In Song Xiaozong, there are 278 words that should be avoided, and scholars are walking on thin ice in their words and sentences. As for those who are afraid to do something because of taboos and become officials, it is even more common. In Song Dynasty, Sima Guang was sent to Liao country, but because the main surname of Liao country was Ye Ludeguang, Sima Guang had to dismiss this messenger with the same name. Because the Yuan Dynasty was a minority regime, there was almost no taboo system, and ministers dared to call the emperor by his first name. The rulers of the Qing Dynasty were jealous that the Central Plains people regarded them as foreigners. Apart from the name of the emperor, Hu, Yi, Lu and Di are taboo. In the forty-second year of Qianlong, Wang Xihou, the son of Jiangxi Province, violated the taboo of Emperor Kanggan in Zi Guan, making all scholars in the world tremble with fear. Taboo system existed in China for more than 3,000 years, and it was not completely abolished until after the Revolution of 1911.
Taboos bring people a lot of trouble in reading and understanding documents and distinguishing authenticity, and even make many mistakes. But if we can master it, we can use it to test the age of ancient books and cultural relics and identify their authenticity, because counterfeiters often don't pay much attention to taboo, and the taboo that the previous generation avoided or should avoid can be used as the basis for judging their fakes.