略论历史上的避讳

中国古代有各种忌讳,避讳是其中最普遍和最重的一种.避讳起源于西周,但当时的规定还比较宽松,如不避偏名和嫌名,在诗文中不必避讳,特别是只对死者加以避讳等.从秦汉以后,避讳逐渐严格化,不仅生者也须讳名,二名要偏讳,要避嫌名,无论说话或写字都要避讳,盛行私讳,甚至为避讳而改姓等等.避讳的方法很多,至少有改字、空字、缺笔等七种.避讳虽然使史籍的记载造成了混乱,给史料的运用增加了困难,但是如果人们掌握了它的规律,却可以利用避讳来鉴别史书和史料的真伪.因此,研究避讳学对史学研究和古籍整理都有一定的意义.

A Brief Discussion of "Bi Hui"-"Avoiding a Taboo"

There were various forms of taboos("ji hui" )in ancient China, among which "Bi Hui"-(avoiding a taboo on the given names of emperors or one's elders) was the most popular and serious one. "Bi Hui" origi- nated from the Westem Zhou Dynasty, under which its rules were flexible. For example, it was not forbidden to mention either of the two-character given name of emperors or one's elders. It was also allowed to call a homonymous name.In addition, "Bi Hui"was unnecessary in poems unless it was ablut the deceased. Since the Qin and Han Dynasties, however, the rules of"Bi Hui" had gradually become less and less flexible. "Bi Hui" began to apply even to those still alive and those with two-character Chinese names; it was required both verbally and in written form.Moreover, people even couldn' t have the same given names as their fathers and grandfathers. There were at least seven ways to achieve "Bi Hui", such as"changing a character,"leaving a character blank", and "missing one stroke of a Chinese character", It is true that"Bi Hui" has caused confu- sion to the recording of ancient Chinese books and inconvenience to the study of historica materials, but one will be able to apply its principle to appraising the authenticity of those books and materials if one has a good grasp of it. In This regard, studying "Bi Hui"is of some significance to the research on ancient Chinese history and compilation of ancient Chinese books.