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20-615: Emperor Daozong succeeded his father, Emperor Xingzong , in 1055. He was notable for reviving the official dynastic name "Great Liao" in 1066, a designation first given the empire by the Emperor Taizong in 947. Other noteworthy achievements made during his reign include the completion of a Liao edition of the Buddhist Tripitaka and the construction of the Sakyamuni Pagoda in 1056. Emperor Daozong faced

40-483: 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

60-436: 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

80-542: 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

100-445: A number of assassination attempts throughout his life. In 1063, a group of Khitans , angry that their system of tribal justice had been put under local administration by ethnic Han , ambushed the emperor while he was on a hunting trip. Emperor Daozong survived the attack and the rebels were executed. However, in order to reassert his legitimacy as emperor, he was forced to perform a traditional "rebirth" ceremony. In 1070, he restructured

120-560: 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

140-524: The Liao legal system to reflect the differences in Han and Khitan customs. Emperor Daozong's wife, Xiao Guanyin , was said to have been a virtuous woman who would persuade him to be a good leader and to purge corrupt officials. However, Daozong was not interested in ruling the empire and did not take her advice seriously. Xiao Guanyin would stay in her chambers and write poetry to pass the time. A corrupt official by

160-600: 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

180-446: 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

200-413: The empress in 1075. Yelü Yixin then went on to execute the crown prince and any other officials he did not like. Eventually, Emperor Daozong caught on, and began to take away Yelü Yixin's privileges one by one. Yelü Yixin then attempted to defect to Song, but was caught in the process; he was finally executed in 1083 AD, but the damage he had done to the empire was already done. Emperor Daozong's reign

220-626: The era lacking such a taboo—simply reflect dialectal differences among the Jurchens themselves. Emperor Xingzong's reign was the beginning of the end for the Liao dynasty. The government was corrupt and the army started to fall apart. He attacked the Western Xia dynasty many times, and waged war against the Northern Song dynasty . However, the frequent wars were not looked kindly upon by his people, and there were much anger among them for

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240-459: The high taxes. Although Emperor Xingzong was successful in bullying Song into raising the annual indemnities, he was unsuccessful in his invasion of Western Xia due to sandstorms. Emperor Xingzong was interested in Buddhism and spent lavishly for his own pleasure. He died in 1055 and was succeeded by his son Emperor Daozong . Consort and issue(s) : Chinese naming taboo A naming taboo

260-458: The name of Yelü Yixin (耶律乙辛) feared the influence she had on the emperor and plotted to have her removed. Yelü Yixin conspired with a palace maiden into tricking the empress into writing a love poem. When Xiao Guanyin had finished writing the poem, Yelü Yixin presented the poem to Emperor Daozong, and insisted that the poem contained hidden messages that the empress was having an affair with another man. Emperor Daozong believed Yelü Yixin, and executed

280-504: The new title of Empress Dowager despite being a former concubine. She was longtime rivals with Xiao Pusage, and spied on Xiao Pusage several times when Zongzhen was a prince. Xiao Noujin tried persuading her son to get rid of Xiao Pusage, but he refused to comply since Xiao Pusage had no children and raised him as a child. When the Emperor was occupied with a hunting trip, Xiao Noujin sent assassins to murder Xiao Pusage. The Emperor's reign

300-407: The offender and the offended person. 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 ),

320-516: 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 ,

340-399: Was controlled by his mother Xiao Noujin. She was very ambitious and didn't want her power at court to be diminished. Although she promised Emperor Jingzong to be content with her title of Consort Dowager, she issued a false edict stating that she was an Empress Dowager. She had plans for her younger son Zhongyuan to replace Zongzhen on the throne. Yelu Zhongyuan told his brother, and Xiao Noujin

360-684: Was fraught with corruption. He spent lavishly on his palaces and his Buddhist worship. Many people under his rule were angered by the high taxes and began to rebel against the Liao dynasty, most notably the Jurchen tribes which would eventually establish the Jin dynasty and overthrow the Liao dynasty. Consort and issue(s) : This Chinese royalty–related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Emperor Xingzong of Liao Emperor Xingzong of Liao (3 April 1016 – 28 August 1055), personal name Zhigu , sinicised name Yelü Zongzhen ,

380-512: Was sent away from the palace. After the Emperor's death, Xiao Noujin reportedly told her daughter-in-law Empress Xiao Dali not to mourn. The Sinified form of his personal name is usually given as the reason (via the Chinese naming taboo ) for the variant forms of the Chinese name of the Jurchens around this time. More likely, however, the variants—which are also attested in other languages of

400-729: Was the seventh emperor of the Khitan -led Liao dynasty of China. Yelü Zongzhen was the eldest son of Emperor Shengzong . He was born to a court lady named Xiao Noujin (蕭耨斤) but was raised by the Empress Xiao Pusage (蕭菩薩哥), the niece of Zongzhen's grandmother Xiao Yanyan . He was enfeoffed as a prince in 1021 at the age of six. When Emperor Shengzong died in 1031, Yelü Zongzhen succeeded his father as emperor. His mother Xiao Noujin became consort dowager and his adopted mother Xiao Pusage became Empress Dowager . After receiving this title, Xiao Noujin became arrogant and gave herself

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