The emperors of the Ming Dynasty all had the surname Zhu. The character "Zhu" is homophonous with "pig," and common people directly called out the name when they slaughtered pigs to sell meat, which violated the taboo of "killing Zhu." Zhu Yuanzhang, who came from a grassroots background, was well aware of the hardships of the common people. He needed to maintain the dignity of imperial power while not wanting to make things difficult for the citizens, so he cleverly altered a character to resolve this taboo issue.
Zhu Yuanzhang spent his early years mingling in the markets and had once engaged in the business of slaughtering pigs and selling meat. He understood that this skill was the foundation of the livelihood for the lower classes. After ascending the throne, although rules became more numerous and names became a top priority, he did not issue strict orders to prohibit the mention of the word "pig"; rather, it was the taboo culture formed top-down in the court that made the common people consciously restrain themselves.
Butchers on the streets dared not openly shout "kill pigs" and changed their titles; some called them "fat livestock," while others used the ancient character "豕." In markets, pork was often referred to as "white strips" or "red fat." Even students in schools and monks in temples were particularly cautious when mentioning related terms, fearing punishment for their words.
There was a butcher named Lao Zhang whose son accidentally shouted "kill pigs" in the market and caught the attention of the patrolling officers, scaring the whole family into silence about the word "pig." It was even more so in the countryside, where the elderly advised children to avoid the word. Telling stories or imitating pig sounds was strictly prohibited, and the taboo gradually integrated into daily life.
Although Zhu Yuanzhang valued the avoidance of taboo, he allowed some leniency with the character "pig." He understood that if the slaughtering and sale of pigs were banned, the livelihoods of the people would be hard to sustain, leading to social chaos. Therefore, he did not issue a prohibition but merely tacitly allowed the use of alternative names to avoid it, leaving room for survival.
To completely resolve the awkwardness, Zhu Yuanzhang simply changed the character "pig" to "豕," which retained the original meaning of livestock while avoiding the taboo. This change allowed butchers to carry on their business without needing to use euphemisms and maintained a balance between imperial power and the livelihood of the people.
In contrast, during the later period of the Ming Dynasty, Emperor Zhengde Zhu Houzhao, because he belonged to the pig zodiac, issued a ban on pigs, prohibiting their breeding and slaughter. In just a few months, this disrupted the livelihoods of the people, leading to an eventual cessation of the ban. In comparison, Zhu Yuanzhang's method of changing characters displayed the practicality and insight of a grassroots emperor.
Although the trend of avoiding taboos in the Ming Dynasty permeated daily life, it did not cut off the way for the common people to survive. Butchers continued to set up stalls, just with changed titles, while students and officials avoided taboo words in their writings, and life continued to flow steadily in the crevices between rules and livelihood, concealing the survival wisdom of the ancients.