【正文】 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。t think there’s something wrong.How old are you? What 39。s home is his castle means that a man39。s invitation, often use the above terms to dodge. Taboo on Sex and RaceTaboos in English language have developed recently, including those words and expressions which people in society despise. People pay special attention to the so called sexist language and racial language, which are more sensitive. Here are two aspects elaborated as follows.At present, the gender discrimination mainly refers to the language especially for looking down upon women. In certain societies there are some difference between men and women when using language. In other societies, language divides into lowerlevel and higherlever, women can only use lowerlevel languages. American women first study English language of sex discrimination phenomenon. They found that language can affect people39。 nei ren have no longer used. Married women still use the original name, not her husband39。s favorite Baal Del were killed. And this was coincidence of most famous history last supper. In Jesus and his followers in a total number of 12 people to a dinner, traitor judah came in and make the number 13. He betrayed Jesus. And after 24 hours of the meal, Jesus was crucified, that day just is Friday in 13th . Eve tempted Adam forbidden fruit, Noah39。s easy to think of the word cry, and cry for just get married bride is also a bad sign, suggesting husband and wife will not happiness in the future. Scissors means friction, indicating the two individuals will often quarrel with each other.From these point of views, Chinese and west。s cultural characteristics and religious characteristic. Superstitions that different countries and national people believed in also is not the item for a national people represent the lucky, but for another country it may represent the bad luck. Each state39。s status rises, women39。t ask her condition. You should understand that if people don39。t let another interference and don39。s impolite. I39。 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。 definition。 taboo。關鍵詞：中西方；禁忌；定義；起源；禁忌的種類；禁忌的詳述；如何避免觸及禁忌ContentsIntroduction………………………………………………………...1 Fundamental Knowledge about Taboo ………….............................2 Definition of Taboo ……………………....…………………………...2 The origin of taboo in Chinese and Western culture.....................................2 The origin of taboo in the West…………...……………………………..2 The origin of taboo in Chinese culture…………………………………3. Reasons for the appearance of taboo……………………………………..3 between Chinese and Western Culture………………….………41. The Language Taboo………………………………………………………..4 Name and Appellation taboo ………………….……………………...4 Taboo in Communication…………………………....................................5 Taboo on Sex and Race…………………………………………….....7 in religion and superstition……………………………………10 The Number Taboos……………………………………………………10 The Wedding Taboo…………………………………………………….12III. The Taboo Development ………...............................................................131. The Decreased Taboo …………………………………………….………142. New Taboo…………………………………………………………........143. The Changed Taboo………………………………………………..15Conclusion …………………………………………………………..16Bibliography………………………