Why is it taboo for Chinese people to write their names and letters with a red pen? What is the reason?

Because the red pen writing has the meaning of death, and write a letter with a red pen and the meaning of the layer in which there is no friendship, so the Chinese taboo with a red pen to write a letter.

In ancient China, writing with a red pen can only be used by the emperor in the palace, the court civil and military officials can not be used, not to mention the people of the world outside the palace. In order to reflect the emperor's honor, from ancient times has been circulating with a red pen to write the book of heaven, the book of heaven on the record of the qualifications of the emperor and the candidate, in fact, are the successive emperors fabricated, is for the better hereditary and continuation. In order to write with a red pen is the exclusive nature of successive emperors, only the palace can produce red ink, and can only be used for the emperor, once found elsewhere in the presence of red ink, light responsibility for the head to the ground, heavy responsibility for the nine clans.

Ancient Chinese emperors in order to reflect the nobility of writing with a red pen, whether it is to approve the Zhouzhang or appointment book, the emperor will end up with a red seal stamped with vermilion. To give another example, the emperor would use a red pen to write on a volume of iron scrolls, and give this volume of iron scrolls to those who have made great contributions to the country and to the people as a reward,? Danshu Tiepiao (丹书铁券). The descendants of the officials who received the scrolls were given the right to be exempted from the death penalty once.

In ancient China, there are some religious traditions is whenever a newborn is born, will use a red pen to write the newborn's name in the genealogy, the name of the last one is not written, when the newborn died many years later, and then use a red pen to make up the full name, indicating that the person has been driving a crane in the west, so write the name of the red pen has a layer of meaning of death in it. Furthermore, then the palace court to the death penalty ultimatum is also written in red pen, above will draw a big fork, on behalf of the death penalty is not long to go. It also shows that the ancient Chinese regarded writing with a red pen as a kind of uncertainty. In ancient China, letters were the only way to contact, with a red pen to write to a friend has implied that the meaning of the layer of extinction, so in the past not to the point of extinction basically will not use a red pen to write letters. These Chinese customs have been passed down to the present day, so that the Chinese people taboo to use the red pen to write the name, write a letter.