Reflections | Addressing the emperor in ancient China and the evolving absurdities of honorifics
- In stepping back from their royal roles, Britain’s Duke and Duchess of Sussex will be relinquishing their honorific titles
- Terms of deference have existed throughout Chinese history, some coming from curious origins
Given their not inconsiderable numbers in the former British colony of Hong Kong, I have to be careful not to hurt the feelings of real and pretend subjects of Queen Elizabeth. Having said that, the concept of royalty is totally alien to me. Showing deference to a person for no other reason than their lineage seems anachronistic, but there are people who are willing to bow and curtsy to nobility, and that is their prerogative, as it were.
Like monarchies throughout history, imperial China devised various honorifics to be used by non-royals to address their superiors. Unlike European monarchs, however, Chinese emperors were never referred to by their personal names. For example, one of the greatest emperors in Chinese history was born Li Shimin, but no one would have dared utter the name in public during his reign.
Those who had the characters shi or min in their given names had to change theirs when Li ascended to the throne. The taboo even extended to written text: shi and min could not be written without altering them with an extra or missing stroke.
