A taboo means a ban or prohibition on something sacred or indecent that is regarded for religious or other reasons as not to be done, touched, used or mentioned.

The history of taboos can be traced back to primitive society, according to contemporary scholars.
As early as the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC-25 AD), some Chinese academic works and historical records referred to the word "taboo" for the first time.

As an important and inseparable part of folk customs, taboos had a close relationship with ordinary Chinese people's lives in ancient times and reached the most far-flung corners of the country.
With the constant changes of society, both forms and implications of taboos have also undergone great evolution.

Most of the far-reaching taboos have been discarded by people in recent years because of rapid scientific development. However, some elderly people maintain their traditional life styles at present and a number of ingrained taboos still exist in their lives.

Among all the taboos, those related to nature and the weather remain shrouded in mystery. There are taboos relating to the sun, the moon, stars, wind, thunder, rain, rainbows, water, fire, stones and soil.

The reason is simple: Nature and weather had a direct influence on people's lives in ancient times. If people benefited from nature and weather, they would be grateful to them. If people suffered from natural calamities, they would be seized with great panic.

Such a combination of admiration and trepidation towards nature triggered the so-called "nature worship."

According to ancient folk legends, the solar eclipse took place because dogs in heaven ate the sun.
In order to save the sun from demise, ancient people formed the habit of beating drums and gongs at the critical moment. They believed that the sounds of drums and gongs could frighten and drive away the dogs. Meanwhile, in order to show their esteem towards the sun, people would not eat any food or hold any recreational activity.

In addition, people were not allowed to sweep the floor after the sunset. In their opinion, the God of Wealth would be swept outside their houses and never came back again if they did so. The God of Wealth's departure meant the decline of a family's fortunes.

In some parts of the country, visiting a patient after sunset was considered to be ominous. People thought the bright sunshine could help to improve a patient's health. After the sunset, a patient's poor health condition would deteriorate due to the lack of sunshine.

Taboos related to soil also existed because Chinese people also showed great respect towards it.
In ancient times, people were forbidden to scoop up soil from the mountains the shape of which looked like a divine dragon. Otherwise, what they did would offend the diving dragon and catastrophes would be inevitable.

On top of that, ancient people believed that the land was under the management of numerous Gods of Land. The gods were able to make the earth fertile and ensure bumper harvests on the land where they lived.

In order to express their respect towards the Gods of Land, ancient people had to establish temples for them.

If people needed to scoop up soil to build houses, they had to worship the god who took charge of their land beforehand.