Taboos for Taiwan

1339 Words6 Pages
** What are the taboos for Taiwanese people? There are some taboos in Taiwan. Due to the close relationship between Taiwan and China in cultural respects, some of these taboos are common in all the Chinese societies, like Hongkong, Mainland China and Taiwan. Some of these taboos could be traced to have some legendary origins, and nowadays young people and those living in larger cities no longer adhere to them as much as in the past. Nevertheless, it is advised that you follow these guidelines unless you are quite sure your friends do not buy them. 1. Do not use red ink to write letters or notes. It is O.K. for a teacher to correct the homework with a red pen, but a significant amount of writing in red should be avoided. 2. Clocks should not be chosen as gifts for others. In Chinese "clocks" sound the same as "termination", which has an implication of death. As a result, giving others clocks can be considered bringing them mishaps. 3. Umbrellas are not good gifts for lovers, either. In Chinese "umbrellas" sound similar to "separation", which means "breaking up". 4. The period between July 1st and July 15th in the Lunar Calendar is considered the "Ghost Month" (Refer to "Chung-yuan Day" in question (C. 3) ). A lot of things should be avoided unless necessary, like marriage, moving, traveling and/or nonemergent medical operations. 5. Taiwanese people interpret things differently from the Western ones. That you say something implies it will happen even if you mean no offense. For instance, if you say "watch out for the knife or you will hurt yourself", it implies your friend might indeed hurt him/herself though you don't want this to happen. Such statements should be avoided especially during the Lunar New Year holidays. 6. The number "4" sounds the same as "death" in Chinese. When choosing gifts, don't give NT$400 or NT$4000, for instance. In some
Open Document