In the first year of Duke Min of Lu, the Spring and Autumn Annals record a visit by “Zhongsun of Qi.” The Gongyang Commentary explains that the visitor was in fact Qingfu, a prince of Lu, who had killed the ruler Ziban. The chronicle calls him a man of Qi “to place him outside.”
The commentary then states the rule: “The Spring and Autumn Annals conceal for the honored, conceal for the close, and conceal for the worthy.” (春秋为尊者讳，为亲者讳，为贤者讳)
In imperial China, the personal name of the ruler had to be avoided in writing. Words were changed instead. For Emperor Wen of Han, Liu Heng, Mount Heng was written Mount Chang, and the moon goddess Heng’e became Chang’e, the name she still has. For Emperor Jing, Liu Qi, the spring solar term Qizhe became Jingzhe, and Qifeng county became Kaifeng.
A popular story holds that Guanshiyin, the bodhisattva of mercy, became Guanyin to avoid the name of Tang Taizong, Li Shimin. Chinese Wikipedia rejects it. Taizong required the taboo only when the two characters of his name appeared together, and the short form Guanyin was in use before the Tang.
拍马屁 To pat the horse’s rump. To flatter. Under the shorter form 拍马, the Handian dictionary gives the example: “He never fawns on his superiors.”
溜须拍马 To smooth the beard and pat the horse. The Taiwan Ministry of Education dictionary gives the example: “He fawns on those above him and is stern with those below him.”
戴高帽子 To put a tall hat on someone. To flatter or praise someone. In the Qing novel Flowers in the Mirror, an old man says that he has heard that people in this place love flattery most of all. “The northern saying calls it loving to wear tall hats. Today one, tomorrow another, until the head is covered with tall hats.”
In January 2025, the Workers’ Daily reported on Ms. Wang, a beautician at the store of a health company in Hangzhou. After twelve hours at work, she planned to go home at 9 p.m. Her leader told her to stay and rehearse a dance for the annual party. She ignored the instruction and went home.
The next day, the store manager offered to keep her on, on three conditions: “No complaints, no speaking in the group chat, no opinions of any kind.” She resigned. The company then issued a dismissal notice. The reason it gave was dingzhuang lingdao, talking back to the leader.
The Labor Contract Law lists the grounds on which an employer may dismiss someone. The article’s author argued that disagreeing with a manager is not among them.
In October 2018, China Education Daily reported on new local rules for teachers in WeChat groups with parents. The education bureau of Hengshui said that teachers may not post students’ rankings or “negative information” about students in the group. Weifang ruled out naming or criticizing students, and publishing scores or rankings. A middle school in Hangzhou stated: “Teachers may not criticize anyone by name in the group.” (教师不得在群内点名批评)
In his essay The Difficulties of Persuasion (说难), Han Feizi wrote: “The dragon is a creature that can be tamed and ridden. But under its throat it has reversed scales a foot across. Whoever touches them is sure to be killed. A ruler also has reversed scales. A persuader who can avoid touching them has nearly succeeded.”
King Zhuang of Chu gave his ministers a feast. Late in the evening, when all were drunk, the candles went out. In the dark a man pulled at the dress of one of the king’s women. She tore the tassel off his hat and told the king: “Bring the light and look for the man without a tassel.”
The king said: “I gave them wine and made them drunk. Why should I display a woman’s virtue and shame an officer?” He ordered: “Whoever drinks with me tonight and does not tear off his tassel has not enjoyed himself.” More than a hundred men tore off their tassels before the lights came back.
Three years later, in a battle against Jin, one officer always fought in front. He told the king that he was the man whose tassel had been torn off. The story is in Liu Xiang’s Garden of Stories (说苑).
One day in 632, the Tang emperor Taizong came back from court in a rage. “Sooner or later I must kill that country bumpkin.” The empress asked whom he meant. “Wei Zheng. He always humiliates me in front of the court.”
The empress withdrew, put on her full court robes and stood in the courtyard. The emperor was startled and asked why. She said: “I have heard that when the ruler is wise, his ministers are upright. Wei Zheng is upright because Your Majesty is wise. How could I not offer my congratulations?” The emperor was pleased. The story is in the Comprehensive Mirror for Aid in Government.
According to the Book of the Later Han, Mi Heng “had talent and eloquence from his youth, but he was proud and harsh and liked to defy his times and slight others.” Cao Cao wanted to humiliate him and made him a drummer at a banquet. Mi Heng stripped naked before Cao Cao, put on the drummer’s clothes and played on. Cao Cao laughed: “I meant to shame him, and he shamed me.”
Cao Cao did not want to be seen as unable to tolerate a famous man, so he sent Mi Heng to Liu Biao. Mi Heng insulted Liu Biao too and was sent on to Huang Zu. At a banquet, he insulted Huang Zu, who had him killed. Mi Heng was 26.
In October 2025, a Xinhua commentary said that the new achievements of the 14th Five-Year Plan period were “fundamentally due to the strong leadership of the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core.”
A year-end economic review in December 2025 used the same phrase in its first sentence. “Under the strong leadership of the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core,” it said, all regions and departments had carried out the new development philosophy, and the economy had moved forward.