As the emperor had, by law, an absolute position not to be challenged by anyone else, his subjects were to show the utmost respect in his presence, whether in direct conversation or otherwise. When approaching the imperial throne, one was expected to kowtow before the emperor. In a conversation with the emperor, it was considered a crime to compare oneself to the emperor in any way. It was taboo to refer to the emperor by his given name, even for the emperor's own mother, who instead was to use Huangdi (), or simply Er ( 'son', for a male emperor). The given names of all the emperor's deceased male ancestors were forbidden from being written, and were avoided () by the use of synonyms, homophones, or leaving out the final stroke of the taboo character. This linguistic feature can sometimes be used to date historical texts, by noting which words in parallel texts are altered.
As the emperor had by law an absolute position not to be challenged by anyone else his subjects were to show the utmost respect in his presence whether in direct conversation or otherwise When approaching the imperial throne one was expected to kowtow before the emperor In a conversation with the emperor it was considered a crime to compare oneself to the emperor in any way It was taboo to refer to the emperor by his given name even for the emperor's own mother who instead was to use Huangdi () or simply Er ( 'son' for a male emperor) The given names of all the emperor's deceased male ancestors were forbidden from being written and were avoided () by the use of synonyms homophones or leaving out the final stroke of the taboo character This linguistic feature can sometimes be used to date historical texts by noting which words in parallel texts are altered