Page "Naming taboo" Paragraph 10

Throughout Chinese history, there were emperors whose names contained common characters who would try to alleviate the burden of the populace in practicing name avoidance.

For example, Emperor Xuan of Han, whose given name Bingyi ( 病已 ) contained two very common characters, changed his name to Xun ( 詢 ), a far less common character, with the stated purpose of making it easier for his people to avoid using his name.

Similarly, Emperor Taizong of Tang, whose given name Shimin ( 世民 ) also contained two very common characters, ordered that name avoidance only required the avoidance of the characters Shi and Min in direct succession and that it did not require the avoidance of those characters in isolation.

However, his son Emperor Gaozong of Tang effectively made this edict of Emperor Taizong ineffective after his death by requiring the complete avoidance of the characters Shi and Min, necessitating the chancellor Li Shiji to change his name to Li Ji.