A naming taboo is a cultural taboo against speaking or writing the given names of exalted persons, notably in China 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 . 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.
55-534: The Tao Te Ching ( traditional Chinese : 道德經 ; simplified Chinese : 道德经 ) or Laozi is a Chinese classic text and foundational work of Taoism traditionally credited to the sage Laozi , though the text's authorship, date of composition and date of compilation are debated. The oldest excavated portion dates to the late 4th century BC. The Tao Te Ching is central to both philosophical and religious Taoism, and has been highly influential to Chinese philosophy and religious practice in general. It
110-588: A retronym applied to non-simplified character sets in the wake of widespread use of simplified characters. Traditional characters are commonly used in Taiwan , Hong Kong , and Macau , as well as in most overseas Chinese communities outside of Southeast Asia. As for non-Chinese languages written using Chinese characters, Japanese kanji include many simplified characters known as shinjitai standardized after World War II, sometimes distinct from their simplified Chinese counterparts . Korean hanja , still used to
165-483: 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 dynasty, Goguryeo ambassadors made a formal request that the imperial government issue them
220-509: A certain extent in South Korea , remain virtually identical to traditional characters, with variations between the two forms largely stylistic. There has historically been a debate on traditional and simplified Chinese characters . Because the simplifications are fairly systematic, it is possible to convert computer-encoded characters between the two sets, with the main issue being ambiguities in simplified representations resulting from
275-436: 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. 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
330-542: 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 , 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
385-584: A foundation in Chinese language and philosophy who are trying to render the original meaning of the text as faithfully as possible into English. Some of the more popular translations are written from a less scholarly perspective, giving an individual author's interpretation. Critics of these versions claim that their translators deviate from the text and are incompatible with the history of Chinese thought. Russell Kirkland goes further to argue that these versions are based on Western Orientalist fantasies and represent
440-627: A total of over 13,000 characters, about 2,000 of which correspond with the Tao Te Ching. Both the Mawangdui and Guodian versions are generally consistent with the received texts, excepting differences in chapter sequence and graphic variants. Several recent Tao Te Ching translations utilise these two versions, sometimes with the verses reordered to synthesize the new finds. Although debated more in early scholarship, early modern scholars like Feng Youlan and Herrlee G. Creel still considered
495-869: Is 産 (also the accepted form in Japan and Korea), while in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan the accepted form is 產 (also the accepted form in Vietnamese chữ Nôm ). The PRC tends to print material intended for people in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, and overseas Chinese in traditional characters. For example, versions of the People's Daily are printed in traditional characters, and both People's Daily and Xinhua have traditional character versions of their website available, using Big5 encoding. Mainland companies selling products in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan use traditional characters in order to communicate with consumers;
550-526: Is a famous puzzle which everyone would like to feel he had solved." The first English translation of the Tao Te Ching was produced in 1868 by the Scottish Protestant missionary John Chalmers , entitled The Speculations on Metaphysics, Polity, and Morality of the "Old Philosopher" Lau-tsze . It was heavily indebted to Julien 's French translation and dedicated to James Legge , who later produced his own translation for Oxford's Sacred Books of
605-513: Is generally taken as preceding the Zhuangzi , the other core Taoist text, as suggested by the Zhuangzi itself. Terminology originating within the text has been reinterpreted and elaborated upon by Legalist thinkers , Confucianists , and particularly Chinese Buddhists , which had been introduced to China significantly after the initial solidification of Taoist thought. The text is well known in
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#1732776192656660-569: Is impossible to understand some passages without some transposition of characters. Traditional Chinese characters Traditional Chinese characters are a standard set of Chinese character forms used to write Chinese languages . In Taiwan , the set of traditional characters is regulated by the Ministry of Education and standardized in the Standard Form of National Characters . These forms were predominant in written Chinese until
715-795: Is listed in the Outer Zhuangzi before Laozi and Zhuangzi, and shares content the Inner Zhuangzi , which does not appear to be familiar with the Tao Te Ching . Thus, an early stratum of the Zhuangzi may still have preceded them. Chad Hansen does not consider the Outer Zhuangzi entirely accurate chronologically, but still discusses Shen Dao as part of the theoretical framework of the Stanford Encyclopedia of Daoism, as "Pre-Laozi Daoist Theory". Discussing concepts of names and realities in its opening, Feng Youlan proposed
770-550: Is multifaceted, and reflected in the words' multiple meanings, even in English translation; it can mean "not doing anything", "not forcing", "not acting" in the theatrical sense, "creating nothingness", "acting spontaneously", and "flowing with the moment". This concept is used to explain ziran , or harmony with the Tao. It includes the concepts that value distinctions are ideological and seeing ambition of all sorts as originating from
825-434: Is named after the legendary Heshang Gong ('legendary sage'), who supposedly lived during the reign of Emperor Wen of Han (180–157 BC). This commentary has a preface written by Ge Xuan (164–244 AD), granduncle of Ge Hong , and scholarship dates this version to c. the 3rd century AD . The origins of the "Wang Bi" version have greater verification than either of the above. Wang Bi (226–249 AD)
880-622: Is why the Henricks translation of them is named "Te-Tao Ching". Based on calligraphic styles and imperial naming taboo avoidances, scholars believe that Text A can be dated to about the first decade and Text B to about the third decade of the 2nd century BC. In 1993, the oldest known version of the text, written on bamboo slips , was found in a tomb near the town of Guodian ( 郭店 ) in Jingmen , Hubei, and dated prior to 300 BC. The Guodian Chu Slips comprise around 800 slips of bamboo with
935-506: Is written in Classical Chinese , which generally poses a number of challenges for interpreters and translators. As Holmes Welch notes, the written language "has no active or passive, no singular or plural, no case, no person, no tense, no mood." Moreover, the received text lacks many grammatical particles which are preserved in the older Mawangdui and Beida texts, which permit the text to be more precise. Lastly, many passages of
990-493: The Chinese Commercial News , World News , and United Daily News all use traditional characters, as do some Hong Kong–based magazines such as Yazhou Zhoukan . The Philippine Chinese Daily uses simplified characters. DVDs are usually subtitled using traditional characters, influenced by media from Taiwan as well as by the two countries sharing the same DVD region , 3. With most having immigrated to
1045-639: The Xiang'er commentary, which had previously been lost. In 1973, archaeologists discovered copies of early Chinese books, known as the Mawangdui Silk Texts , in a tomb dated to 168 BC. They included two nearly complete copies of the text, referred to as Text A ( 甲 ) and Text B ( 乙 ), both of which reverse the traditional ordering and put the Te Ching section before the Tao Ching , which
1100-451: The Zhuangzi . The Tao Te Ching is a text of around 5,162 to 5,450 Chinese characters in 81 brief chapters or sections ( 章 ). There is some evidence that the chapter divisions were later additions—for commentary, or as aids to rote memorisation—and that the original text was more fluidly organised. It has two parts, the Tao Ching ( 道經 ; chapters 1–37) and the Te Ching ( 德經 ; chapters 38–81), which may have been edited together into
1155-468: The Kensiu language . Naming taboo There were three ways to avoid using a taboo character: 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 , whose given name Bingyi ( 病已 ) contained two very common characters, changed his name to Xun ( 詢 ),
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#17327761926561210-640: The Shanghainese -language character U+20C8E 𠲎 CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-20C8E —a composition of 伐 with the ⼝ 'MOUTH' radical—used instead of the Standard Chinese 嗎 ; 吗 . Typefaces often use the initialism TC to signify the use of traditional Chinese characters, as well as SC for simplified Chinese characters . In addition, the Noto, Italy family of typefaces, for example, also provides separate fonts for
1265-492: The Tao Te Ching are deliberately ambiguous. Since there is very little punctuation in Classical Chinese, determining the precise boundaries between words and sentences is not always trivial. Deciding where these phrasal boundaries are must be done by the interpreter. Some translators have argued that the received text is so corrupted due to its original medium being bamboo strips linked with silk threads—that it
1320-494: The school of names as preceding it the Tao Te Ching , but while some may have, it does not demonstrate school of names influence the way the Zhuangzi does. Although differing, Mohism and Confucianism also discuss concepts of names and realities. The Tao Te Ching was traditionally ascribed to Laozi , whose historical existence has been a matter of scholarly debate. His name, which means "Old Master", has only fuelled controversy on this issue. Legends claim variously that Laozi
1375-631: The East . Other notable English translations of the Tao Te Ching are those produced by Chinese scholars and teachers: a 1948 translation by linguist Lin Yutang , a 1961 translation by author John Ching Hsiung Wu , a 1963 translation by sinologist Din Cheuk Lau , another 1963 translation by professor Wing-tsit Chan , and a 1972 translation by Taoist teacher Gia-Fu Feng together with his wife Jane English . Many translations are written by people with
1430-555: The People's Republic of China, traditional Chinese characters are standardised according to the Table of Comparison between Standard, Traditional and Variant Chinese Characters . Dictionaries published in mainland China generally show both simplified and their traditional counterparts. There are differences between the accepted traditional forms in mainland China and elsewhere, for example the accepted traditional form of 产 in mainland China
1485-532: The United States during the second half of the 19th century, Chinese Americans have long used traditional characters. When not providing both, US public notices and signs in Chinese are generally written in traditional characters, more often than in simplified characters. In the past, traditional Chinese was most often encoded on computers using the Big5 standard, which favored traditional characters. However,
1540-626: The Way , or A Treatise on the Principle and Its Action . Ancient Chinese books were commonly referenced by the name of their real or supposed author, in this case the "Old Master", Laozi. As such, the Tao Te Ching is also sometimes referred to as the Laozi , especially in Chinese sources. The title Tao Te Ching , designating the work's status as a classic, was only first applied during the reign of Emperor Jing of Han (157–141 BC). Other titles for
1595-607: The West, and is one of the most translated texts in world literature. In English, the title is commonly rendered Tao Te Ching , following the Wade–Giles romanisation, or as Daodejing , following pinyin . It can be translated as The Classic of the Way and its Power , The Book of the Tao and Its Virtue , The Book of the Way and of Virtue , The Tao and its Characteristics , The Canon of Reason and Virtue , The Classic Book of Integrity and
1650-488: The colonial appropriation of Chinese culture. Other Taoism scholars, such as Michael LaFargue and Jonathan Herman, argue that while they do not pretend to scholarship, they meet a real spiritual need in the West. These Westernized versions aim to make the wisdom of the Tao Te Ching more accessible to modern English-speaking readers by, typically, employing more familiar cultural and temporal references. The Tao Te Ching
1705-600: 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 ( 莊 ) were ordered to change their names to its synonym Yan ( 嚴 ). The custom of naming taboo had
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1760-446: 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. 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
1815-464: The first, Laozi was a contemporary of Confucius (551–479 BC). His surname was Li ( 李 ), and his personal name was Er ( 耳 ) or Dan ( 聃 ). He was an official in the imperial archives, and wrote a book in two parts before departing to the West; at the request of the keeper of the Han-ku Pass, Yinxi , Laozi composed the Tao Te Ching . In the second story, Laozi, also a contemporary of Confucius,
1870-493: The inverse is equally true as well. In digital media, many cultural phenomena imported from Hong Kong and Taiwan into mainland China, such as music videos, karaoke videos, subtitled movies, and subtitled dramas, use traditional Chinese characters. In Hong Kong and Macau , traditional characters were retained during the colonial period, while the mainland adopted simplified characters. Simplified characters are contemporaneously used to accommodate immigrants and tourists, often from
1925-725: The mainland. The increasing use of simplified characters has led to concern among residents regarding protecting what they see as their local heritage. Taiwan has never adopted simplified characters. The use of simplified characters in government documents and educational settings is discouraged by the government of Taiwan. Nevertheless, with sufficient context simplified characters are likely to be successfully read by those used to traditional characters, especially given some previous exposure. Many simplified characters were previously variants that had long been in some use, with systematic stroke simplifications used in folk handwriting since antiquity. Traditional characters were recognized as
1980-682: The majority of Chinese text in mainland China are simplified characters , there is no legislation prohibiting the use of traditional Chinese characters, and often traditional Chinese characters remain in use for stylistic and commercial purposes, such as in shopfront displays and advertising. Traditional Chinese characters remain ubiquitous on buildings that predate the promulgation of the current simplification scheme, such as former government buildings, religious buildings, educational institutions, and historical monuments. Traditional Chinese characters continue to be used for ceremonial, cultural, scholarly/academic research, and artistic/decorative purposes. In
2035-983: The merging of previously distinct character forms. Many Chinese online newspapers allow users to switch between these character sets. Traditional characters are known by different names throughout the Chinese-speaking world. The government of Taiwan officially refers to traditional Chinese characters as 正體字 ; 正体字 ; zhèngtǐzì ; 'orthodox characters'. This term is also used outside Taiwan to distinguish standard characters, including both simplified, and traditional, from other variants and idiomatic characters . Users of traditional characters elsewhere, as well as those using simplified characters, call traditional characters 繁體字 ; 繁体字 ; fántǐzì ; 'complex characters', 老字 ; lǎozì ; 'old characters', or 全體字 ; 全体字 ; quántǐzì ; 'full characters' to distinguish them from simplified characters. Some argue that since traditional characters are often
2090-452: The middle of the 20th century, when various countries that use Chinese characters began standardizing simplified sets of characters, often with characters that existed before as well-known variants of the predominant forms. Simplified characters as codified by the People's Republic of China are predominantly used in mainland China , Malaysia, and Singapore. "Traditional" as such is
2145-413: The natural balance of the Tao. The Tao Te Ching intends to lead students to a "return" to their natural state, in harmony with Tao. Language and conventional wisdom are critically assessed. Taoism views them as inherently biased and artificial, widely using paradoxes to sharpen the point. Wu wei , literally 'non-action' or 'not acting', is a central concept of the Tao Te Ching . The concept of wu wei
2200-677: The official script in Singapore until 1969, when the government officially adopted Simplified characters. Traditional characters still are widely used in contexts such as in baby and corporation names, advertisements, decorations, official documents and in newspapers. The Chinese Filipino community continues to be one of the most conservative in Southeast Asia regarding simplification. Although major public universities teach in simplified characters, many well-established Chinese schools still use traditional characters. Publications such as
2255-700: The original standard forms, they should not be called 'complex'. Conversely, there is a common objection to the description of traditional characters as 'standard', due to them not being used by a large population of Chinese speakers. Additionally, as the process of Chinese character creation often made many characters more elaborate over time, there is sometimes a hesitation to characterize them as 'traditional'. Some people refer to traditional characters as 'proper characters' ( 正字 ; zhèngzì or 正寫 ; zhèngxiě ) and to simplified characters as 簡筆字 ; 简笔字 ; jiǎnbǐzì ; 'simplified-stroke characters' or 減筆字 ; 减笔字 ; jiǎnbǐzì ; 'reduced-stroke characters', as
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2310-549: The reader to reconcile supposed contradictions. With a partial reconstruction of the pronunciation of Old Chinese spoken during the Tao Te Ching ' s composition, approximately three-quarters rhymed in the original language. The Chinese characters in the earliest versions were written in seal script , while later versions were written in clerical script and regular script styles. The Tao Te Ching has been translated into Western languages over 250 times, mostly to English, German, and French. According to Holmes Welch, "It
2365-416: The received text, possibly reversed from an original Te Tao Ching . The written style is laconic, and has few grammatical particles . While the ideas are singular, the style is poetic, combining two major strategies: short, declarative statements, and intentional contradictions, encouraging varied, contradictory interpretations. The first of these strategies creates memorable phrases, while the second forces
2420-516: 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 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 ,
2475-407: The same source. Tao Te Ching used the term broadly with simplicity and humility as key virtues, often in contrast to selfish action. On a political level, it means avoiding such circumstances as war, harsh laws and heavy taxes. Some Taoists see a connection between wu wei and esoteric practices, such as zuowang ('sitting in oblivion': emptying the mind of bodily awareness and thought) found in
2530-636: The traditional character set used in Taiwan ( TC ) and the set used in Hong Kong ( HK ). Most Chinese-language webpages now use Unicode for their text. The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) recommends the use of the language tag zh-Hant to specify webpage content written with traditional characters. In the Japanese writing system , kyujitai are traditional forms, which were simplified to create shinjitai for standardized Japanese use following World War II. Kyūjitai are mostly congruent with
2585-985: The traditional characters in Chinese, save for minor stylistic variation. Characters that are not included in the jōyō kanji list are generally recommended to be printed in their traditional forms, with a few exceptions. Additionally, there are kokuji , which are kanji wholly created in Japan, rather than originally being borrowed from China. In the Korean writing system , hanja —replaced almost entirely by hangul in South Korea and totally replaced in North Korea —are mostly identical with their traditional counterparts, save minor stylistic variations. As with Japanese, there are autochthonous hanja, known as gukja . Traditional Chinese characters are also used by non-Chinese ethnic groups. The Maniq people living in Thailand and Malaysia use Chinese characters to write
2640-543: The two halves of the text. Linguistic studies of the Tao Te Ching ' s vocabulary and rime scheme point to a date of composition after the Classic of Poetry , but before the Zhuangzi , and would generally be taken as preceding the Zhuangzi . Creel proposed that Shen Buhai preceded it as well. Schwartz's contemporaries discussed Shen Dao as a Daoistic predecessor. A member of the Jixia Academy , Shen Dao
2695-518: The ubiquitous Unicode standard gives equal weight to simplified and traditional Chinese characters, and has become by far the most popular encoding for Chinese-language text. There are various input method editors (IMEs) available for the input of Chinese characters . Many characters, often dialectical variants, are encoded in Unicode but cannot be inputted using certain IMEs, with one example being
2750-587: The words for simplified and reduced are homophonous in Standard Chinese , both pronounced as jiǎn . The modern shapes of traditional Chinese characters first appeared with the emergence of the clerical script during the Han dynasty c. 200 BCE , with the sets of forms and norms more or less stable since the Southern and Northern dynasties period c. the 5th century . Although
2805-495: The work a compilation, and most modern scholarship holds the text to be a compilation, as typical for long-form early Chinese texts. Essentially the dating of A.C. Graham , the current text might have been compiled c. 250 BCE , drawing on a wide range of versions dating back a century or two. Benjamin I. Schwartz still considered it remarkably unified by the time of the Mawangdui silk texts , even if these versions swap
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#17327761926562860-524: The work include the honorific Sutra of the Way and Its Power ( 道德真經 ; Dàodé zhēnjing ) and the descriptive Five Thousand Character Classic ( 五千文 ; Wǔqiān wén ). Among the many transmitted editions of the Tao Te Ching text, the three primary ones are named after early commentaries. The "Yan Zun Version", which is only extant for the Te Ching , derives from a commentary attributed to Han dynasty scholar Yan Zun ( 巖尊 , fl. 80 BC – 10 AD ). The "Heshang Gong" version
2915-593: Was "born old" and that he lived for 996 years, with twelve previous incarnations starting around the time of the Three Sovereigns before the thirteenth as Laozi. Some scholars have expressed doubts over Laozi's historicity. The first biographical reference to Laozi is in the Records of the Grand Historian , by Chinese historian Sima Qian ( c. 145–86 BC ), which combines three stories. In
2970-509: Was Lao Laizi ( 老萊子 ), who wrote a book in 15 parts. Third, Laozi was the grand historian and astrologer Lao Dan ( 老聃 ), who lived during the reign of Duke Xian of Qin ( r. 384–362 BC ). The Tao Te Ching describes the Tao as the source and ideal of all existence: it is unseen, but not transcendent, immensely powerful yet supremely humble, being the root of all things. People have desires and free will (and thus are able to alter their own nature). Many act "unnaturally", upsetting
3025-522: Was a Three Kingdoms -period philosopher and commentator on the Tao Te Ching and I Ching . Tao Te Ching scholarship has advanced from archaeological discoveries of manuscripts, some of which are older than any of the received texts. Beginning in the 1920s and 1930s, Marc Aurel Stein and others found thousands of scrolls in the Mogao Caves near Dunhuang . They included more than 50 partial and complete manuscripts. Another partial manuscript has
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