Title

Textual Avoidance of the Taboo Terms Hulu and Yidi in the Qing Dynasty: A Case Study of the Zong Zhongjian ji, Yang Zhongmin ji and Pingpanji

Author

Huang Yi-long, Wu Kuo-sheng

Genre

Article

Pages

7-59

DOI

10.6503/THJCS.202403_54(1).0001

Download

PDF

Language

Chinese

Key words

hulu胡虜, yidi夷狄, textual avoidance of taboo terms, Zong Zhongjian ji 宗忠簡集, Yang Zhongmin ji 楊忠愍集, Pingpanji 平叛記

Abstract

In the year 1723, the Yongzheng 雍正 emperor issued an edict, which said he found when people published books, they often either left blank characters for the terms hulu yidi 胡虜夷狄 (barbarians) or purposely avoided using these terms. If these terms should be avoided, it means people took the Manchu people who ruled China as “barbarians,” so the emperor prohibited the self-censored taboo terms to be applied. In 1777, the ministers in charge of compiling the Siku quanshu 四庫全書 (Complete Library of the Four Branches of Literature) were severely reprimanded by the Qianlong 乾隆 emperor for failing to eliminate references to the Jin Jurchen people and some Mongolian tribes as yi and di in Zong Ze’s 宗澤 (1059-1128) Zong Zhongjian ji 宗忠簡集 and Yang Jisheng’s 楊繼盛 (1516-1555) Yang Zhongmin ji 楊忠愍集. Taking advantage of the new research environment in the era of big data, this article compares the Ming and Qing editions of these two books with their Wenyuan 文淵, Wenjin 文津 and Wenlan 文瀾 editions of the Siku quanshu to analyze their avoidance of the taboo terms. The Pingpanji 平叛記, which recorded historical events during the transition from the Ming to the Qing, is also studied as another key example. After examining the original unabridged edition and the reprinted revised editions of this text, we explore how the reprinted editions deleted or altered the taboo terms in accordance with the emperors’ edicts. Through these case studies, we illustrate the new phenomena of “self-repression/censorship” that occured when taboo words were proscribed in traditional Chinese society.