【正文】 e 1777. He wrote:Taboo as I have before observed is a word of extensive signification。 Human Sacrifices are called Tangata Taboo, and when any thing is forbid to be eaten, or made use of they say such a thing is Taboo。 they say that if the King should happen to go into a house belonging to a subject, that house would be Taboo and never more be inhabited by the owner。 so that when ever he travels there are houses for his reception.(Cook1967:176)In the journal entry for July 1777, the surgeon on the Resolution, William Anderson, wrote:[taboo]is the mon expression when any thing is not to be touch’d ,unless the transgressor will risque some very severe punishment as appears from the great apprehension they have of approaching any thing prohibited by it. Cook and Anderson used taboo (or tabu) to describe the behavior of Polynesians towards things that were not to be done, entered, seen or touched. Such taboos are, in some form, almost universal. The origin of taboo in Chinese cultureIn China, at least early in the Han Dynasty appeared the phrase “禁忌” . However, there was not a scientific explanation of the term at that time except for the one given by Xu Shen of the East Han (58—) He, in his famous work Shuo wen Jie Zi (Explanation of Words) explains: “禁忌” means watching the celestial phenomena in order to show the natural changes and the great event (關(guān)乎天文，一查時變，示神韋也) (Duan Yucai, 2004). And in Han Shu：Yi Wen Zhi及拘者為之, 則牽于禁忌,泥于小數(shù),舍人事而任鬼神. We can get the earliest information of the taboo origin in China that most of taboos came from people’s receptiveness and dread to the ghost and gods. And as we all know, the emperors in ancient China were considered to be the son of the heaven, they have the respectable position and power as the heaven. So “禁” refers to the interferences from the emperors and heaven. “忌” has the same meaning as “諱”, both of which show the emphasis on self control or inhibition. Compared with “禁”, “諱 tends to be more of the lower class . So in ancient China, taboo refers to the things prohibited by the omen of heaven (namely gods) and the rulers. We can see from the Chinese term “禁忌” that Chinese people’s practice of taboo at the very beginning was influenced by the concept of harmony between man and nature and by Chinese people’s relation to gods and ghosts through religious rituals . . Reasons for the appearance of tabooEverything exiting in the world has special reasons. Taboo, as a sensitive topic, appeared and developed for apparent reasons. One reason is that linguistic taboos are historically considered the superstitious behaviors of the primitive people. At ancient times, human beings lived in a quite underdeveloped world, they struggle with the powerful and mysterious nature in such a low productivity that their living conditions and thought were extremely restricted by the natural environment. In the process of labor for meeting their needs of survival and munication, the earliest language called into being. In addition, they never got good understanding about their language and the target object it refers to, even they fear about words which refer to natural phenomena. For example , when they faced catastrophe they believe there existed saints and devils in the world , and these saints and devils controlled their world , one way to get free from their horror is to worship and obedient to them.. Because they believe “speak of devil, it is sure to appear”, they never call their names and afraid of being punished if they not abbey the rule. The superstition in language and taboo appeared in daily life gradually. Another reason is that with the development of civilization of human beings, people began to distinguish their language from its target objects. They don’t think there is magic in the code of language , but those customs close to our lives pass down from generation to generation to designate people ’ s good will , kindness and admiration to others . between Chinese and Western Culture1. The Language Taboo The Name and Appellation tabooThe taboo of name and appellation in both Chinese and Western culture are widely different. In China39。s feudal society, emperors, sage, confessed parricide, teachers, official name are absolute taboos. Chinese traditional culture in the taboo follows today: junior to superior, student to the teacher, younger to elder, absolutely can39。t use first names, it will be considered poor upbringing, brusque and unreasonable. The taboo’s inheritance reflected the concept of Han nationality entrenched patriarchal clan.On the contrary, in the English speaking countries, especially in the United States, the famous Declaration of Independence saying All men are created equal. This brought the profound influence to the American society, and this kind of idea accumulates deeply in the cultural psychology of people. Therefore, the United States person can use first names in order to show equal, kind and friendly no matter the honour or the low status, the high or low, the young or the elder, whether at the same level or exist between equals or adults, even between teachers and students. In terms of the name ,the taboos clearly reflect the differences between Chinese and western culture. Taboo in CommunicationIn many languages, cursing and swearing words are taboo as English and Chinese .But it also has to explain: first, some swearing words too vulgar, horrible and restricted by society. Jesus Christ, Holy Mary, Son of a bitch is this kind of words。 But Damn, Damn it, Hell is little light on some tone. Please note that most of the curse, swearing words and phrases are relevant Christian name and words in English. But in Chinese, this kind of fixed curse or swearing words seems less. The most mon is damn, but it will not cause very strong feelings. Because sometimes it has cultivated into an colloquialism. Second, curse and swearing words are restricted by the age