Addressing or Referring To Others
Just as it was important to use a humble form of "I", using a proper form of "You" was required to avoid potentially offending the addressee. For example, similar to the concept and usage of "Your Majesty" in British court, no one was allowed to use the regular pronoun "You" to address the emperor. The same concept of hierarchical speech habits and etiquette extended to people across all ranks and statuses. Often, the addressee's title or profession was used in place of the direct pronoun "You". Below are examples of proper substitutes for the second person pronouns "You" or "Your ~".
Read more about this topic: Chinese Honorifics
Famous quotes containing the words addressing and/or referring:
“But what is quackery? It is commonly an attempt to cure the diseases of a man by addressing his body alone. There is need of a physician who shall minister to both soul and body at once, that is, to man. Now he falls between two stools.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Usually, when people talk about the “strength” of black women they are referring to the way in which they perceive black women coping with oppression. They ignore the reality that to be strong in the face of oppression is not the same as overcoming oppression, that endurance is not to be confused with transformation.”
—bell hooks (b. c. 1955)