Nanguan is not geared for public performance per se, and given the exalted status of the art-aficionados boast about the role of nanguan in the royal court of the Qing dynasty--along with the continued assertion of class-based distinctions between gentry and merchants, there remain a number of taboos and conventions within the discipline.
因為南管本身非表演的音樂性格，加上南管人御前清音的自詡，還有仕紳商賈的階級意識，因此南管圈內有許多的禁忌與規矩。