Wikipedia:Naming conventions (Chinese)
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This page documents an English Wikipedia naming convention. It is a generally accepted standard that editors should follow, though it should be treated with common sense and the occasional exception. When editing this page, please ensure that your revision reflects consensus. When in doubt, discuss first on the talk page. |
These guidelines mainly deal with the systematic naming of Chinese-related articles. Please follow the conventions below. If you disagree with any of the conventions, please discuss in the talk page. Also
- see Wikipedia:Naming conventions for naming conventions in general
- see Wikipedia:Manual of Style for China-related articles for the style of China-related articles.
- see Wikipedia:History standards for China-related articles for notes on the style of history of China-related articles
- see Wikipedia:WikiProject China for ongoing news and tasks relevant to China-related topics.
Please refer to the talk page for discussion before setting these conventions as standards.
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[edit] Characters
Any encyclopedia entries whose titles are Chinese names should include both the Chinese characters and the Hanyu Pinyin representation for their names in the first sentence.
Chinese characters on the English Wikipedia should be encoded using HTML entities with Unicode numbers. Big5 and GB encoded characters are acceptable as a draft for people who have no other means of entering characters but should be converted to Unicode in HTML character entities when it is possible. After a Chinese text has been converted to Unicode, the Big5 or GB versions should be removed.
[edit] Romanization
Main discussion: Wikipedia talk:Naming conventions (Chinese)/Transcription of Chinese
Romanization presents some difficult issues in that it is a highly political issue. The most often used romanization is pinyin. Though some outside of the People's Republic of China dislike it because of its association with that government, pinyin is the most standard way of romanizing Mandarin Chinese words.
In general, Chinese entries should be in Hanyu Pinyin. Exceptions would include:
- When there is a more popularly used form in English (such as Taoism)
- When the subject of the entry is likely to object to romanization in pinyin.
When an entry is not in pinyin form, a redirect to the article from the pinyin form could be helpful.
[edit] Apostrophes
Apostrophes are crucial in both Hanyu Pinyin and Wade-Giles. In Wade-Giles, an apostrophe is a part of the syllable, while in Pinyin it serves as a syllable delimiter.
The Library of Congress Guidelines give the following rules for using the apostrophe in Hanyu Pinyin:
- Whenever a syllable begins with a, o, or e, and follows another syllable: Běi'ān (北安), Cháng'é (嫦娥), Jiàn'ōu (建瓯).
- Whenever a syllable ends with -n and the next syllable begins with g-: Zhāng Zhàn'gāng (张占钢) .
The apostrophe is required wherever there might be ambiguity in word boundaries. Xī'ān (西安), for example, might be interpreted as a single syllable xiān (先) if the apostrophe and the tones were not present. Fǎn'gǎn (反感) on the other hand might be confused with fāng'àn (方案), therefore the need of the second rule. Note that not every n- followed by -g creates ambiguity, as in jiàn'guó (建国) where uo is not a legal syllable. Some people apply the apostrophe in these cases nevertheless, for the sake of clarity. Also, exceptions to this rule exist even when ambiguity is possible, especially in proper nouns, for example, Hénán (河南). The second rule is not a strict rule, so you might want to do a google test to determine which usage is more popular.
[edit] Hyphens
Copied from talk page
According to the Library of Congress Guidelines for Hanyu Pinyin:
- Join, without hyphen or space, multi-character proper nouns, for example:
- Person's name
- Family/clan name (姓)
- Given name (名)
- Style/Courtesy name (字)
- Pseudonym
- Buddhist name
- Placename
- But separate the following from the placename proper:
- Jurisdictional name, such as 市 shi4 "city"
- Topographical name, such as 山 shan1 "mountain"
- But separate the following from the placename proper:
- Era name
- Ethnic group name
- Religion name
- Language name
- Person's name
[edit] Names of people
[edit] General principle
The encyclopedia should reference the name more familiar to most English readers. For most historical figures this means that the encyclopedia entry should reference the Chinese name (romanized in Hanyu pinyin) rather than the English name, with a redirect from the English name. However, there are exceptions for figures whose English name is more familiar (such as Confucius) and for figures who were raised in non-Chinese societies and whose Chinese names are unfamiliar (such as Vera Wang and Maya Lin).
[edit] Order of names
Personal names in Chinese, unlike Western names, present the family/clan name first. Unlike other instances where this occurs, it is standard practice in English to also present the family name first (for example, Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping).
There is an exemption for people whose Chinese name is familiar but with English ordering (for example, Wen Ho Lee). In this case, the primary entry should be under the English ordering with a redirect from the Chinese ordering.
[edit] Romanization of names
Chinese names should be written in Hanyu Pinyin unless there is a more common romanization used in English (for example, Chiang Kai-shek, Sun Yat-sen) or when the subject of the article is likely to prefer a non-pinyin romanization as is often the case with people from Taiwan, Hong Kong, and overseas Chinese communities (for example, Lee Teng-hui, Tung Chee Hwa, Lee Kuan Yew).
When using pinyin for a Chinese name, pinyin spacing and capitalization conventions should be used. This includes keeping the family name separate and the given name capitalized. Some given names have only one syllable (for example, Li Yong). Many have more than one syllable, but the different syllables are never indicated by spacing, hyphenization, or capitalization. There should be no space between the first and second syllables of a given name, (for example, Jiang Zemin).
However, there are two exceptions to avoid ambiguity. Sometimes it is necessary to show whether the name has one syllable or two (e.g. xian can be xian or xi an). Sometimes it is necessary to show where the syllable break lies (e.g. jingao can be jing ao or jin gao). In both cases, the pinyin convention adds a ' symbol to resolve ambiguity, for example, jin'gao vs jing'ao.
When using Wade-Giles, a dash should be put between the two syllables of a given name, and the second syllable should not be capitalised (for example, Lee Teng-hui, not Lee Teng Hui).
[edit] Names of groups
The main entry for a Chinese group should be under the name most familiar to English speakers. In some cases, this will be the translated name (for example, Communist Party of China). In other cases, this will be the transliterated name (Kuomintang and Falun Gong). When the name is transliterated, the name should use the spelling conventionally used by English speakers (for example, Kuomintang). Where this is not the pinyin transliteration there should be a redirect to the article from the pinyin name.
When a group uses a translated name, the Chinese characters should always be included. For example, this is especially needed in the entry for President of the People's Republic of China because the name used for President (zhuxi) is not the standard term used for President.
Similarly Chinese characters should be included for the Democratic Progressive Party because the standard term used for the party (min-jin-dang) is a contraction of the full name (min-zhu jin-bu dang). Characters should also be included for National People's Congress because there are a number of different Chinese terms to translate Congress, and the entry should identify which one is used.
[edit] Names of emperors
Please see Wikipedia:History standards for China-related articles.
The general principle is to use the name which is most familiar to Chinese readers. This violates the Wikipedia principle that the name most familiar to English readers should be used, because English readers are not usually familiar with any of the emperors.
Summary of principles used:
- Emperors before the Tang Dynasty: use posthumous names, such as Emperor Wu of Han (漢武帝).
- Emperors of the Tang, Song, Liao and Jin (1115-1234) dynasties : use temple names, such as Emperor Taizong of Tang (唐太宗).
- Emperors of the Ming Dynasty and Qing Dynasty: use era names (same as reign names), such as Kangxi Emperor (康熙帝).
The above is a rough guide and there are many exceptions. See Table of Chinese monarchs for a complete list of all Chinese monarchs, and follow the conventions given there.
Because these are reign names and not personal names, the correct phrasing for emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasty is the "Kangxi Emperor" rather than "Emperor Kangxi".
[edit] Place names
Mainland China place names should be in Hanyu Pinyin. Place names in Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, and overseas (such as Singapore) should be romanized in whatever way is commonly used for those places. Same goes for non-Han Chinese place names. So use Hohhot, Kashgar, and Shigatse, not Huhehaote, Kashi and Rikaze. (呼和浩特、喀什、日喀则)
These conventions are guidelines only, and there are examples of exceptions, so please use your discretion. As always, all discussion is welcome on the talk page.
See also the following official guidelines for spelling Chinese place names in Hanyu Pinyin: http://202.205.177.129/moe-dept/yuxin/content/gfbz/scanning/gfhbz/gfbz11.htm
[edit] Topographical
| Type | char. | Normal | Disambiguate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| by location | by type | |||
| Mountain Range 山脉 山脈 |
1 | Qinling Mountains 秦岭 | no example yet | no example yet |
| >1 | Taihang Mountains 太行山 Daxing'an Mountains 大兴安岭 |
no example yet | no example yet | |
| Mountain Peak 山峰 |
1 | Mount Tai 泰山 | Mount Heng (Shanxi) 恒山 | Mount Huang 黄山 |
| Mount Heng (Hunan) 衡山 | Huangshan City 黄山市 | |||
| >1 | Mount Emei 峨嵋山 Mount Wutai 五台山 |
no example yet | Mount Wuzhi 五指山 | |
| Wuzhishan City 五指山市 | ||||
| River 河流 | 1 | Huai River 淮河 Xiang River 湘江 |
Min River (Sichuan) 岷江 | Li River 漓江 |
| Min River (Fujian) 闽江 | Lijiang 丽江市 | |||
| >1 | Jinsha River 金沙江 | no example yet | Mudan River 牡丹江 | |
| Mudanjiang 牡丹江市 | ||||
| Lake 湖泊 | 1 | Lake Tai 太湖 | Lake Tianchi (Changbai) 长白山天池 | Lake Chao 巢湖 |
| Lake Tianchi (Tianshan) 天山天池 | Chaohu City 巢湖市 | |||
| >1 | Lake Hongze 洪泽湖 | no example yet | Lake Poyang 鄱阳湖 | |
| Poyang County 鄱阳县 | ||||
[edit] Jurisdictional
| Type | char. | Normal | Disambiguate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| by location | by type | |||
| Province 省 | >1 | Zhejiang 浙江省 Rehe 热河省 |
no example yet | Heilongjiang 黑龙江省 |
| Heilong River 黑龙江 | ||||
| Aut. Region 自治区 | >1 | Ningxia 宁夏回族自治区 | no example yet | Tibet Autonomous Region 西藏自治区 |
| Tibet 藏区 / 吐蕃 (see Talk:Tibet) | ||||
| Municipality / City (plc / clc / pc / ccc) 直辖、地级、县级市 直轄、省轄、縣轄市 |
>1 | Beijing 北京市 Nanjing 南京市 Yiwu 义乌市 ROC: Taipei 台北市 ROC: Keelung 基隆市 ROC: Banciao 板橋市 |
Yichun, Heilongjiang 伊春市 | Jilin City 吉林市 |
| Yichun, Jiangxi 宜春市 | Jilin 吉林省 | |||
| League / Banner 盟旗 |
>1 | Yeke Juu League 伊克昭盟 Harqin Banner 喀喇沁旗 |
no example yet | Naiman Banner 奈曼旗 |
| Naiman (people) 奈曼部 | ||||
| (Aut.) Prefecture 地区 / 自治州 |
>1 | Haidong Prefecture 海东地区 Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture 延边朝鲜族自治州 |
no example yet | Shigatse Prefecture 日喀则地区 |
| Shigatse 日喀则市 | ||||
| (Aut.) County 县 / 自治县 縣 |
1 | Pan County 盘县 | She County, Anhui 歙县 | no example yet |
| She County, Hebei 涉县 | ||||
| >1 | Fugou County 扶沟县 Dachang Hui Autonomous County 大厂回族自治县 ROC: Hsinchu County 新竹縣 |
Wushan County, Chongqing 巫山县 | Poyang County 鄱阳县 | |
| Wushan County, Gansu 武山县 | Lake Poyang 鄱阳湖 | |||
| District 区 區 | 1 | Dongqu District, Panzhihua 攀枝花市东区 | Jiaoqu District, Jiamusi 佳木斯市郊区 | no example yet |
| Jiaoqu District, Yangquan 阳泉市郊区 | ||||
| >1 | Chongwen District 崇文区 but also: Pudong 浦东新区 ROC: Beitou 北投區 |
Chaoyang District, Beijing 北京市朝阳区 | Hebei District 天津市河北区 | |
| Chaoyang District, Changchun 长春市朝阳区 | Hebei 河北省 | |||
| Town / Township 乡镇 鄉鎮 |
>1 | Zhouzhuang 周庄镇 |
Chengguan, Fugou County 扶沟县城关镇 | Huairou (town) 怀柔镇 |
| Chengguan, Taikang County 太康县城关镇 | Huairou District 怀柔区 | |||
[edit] Historical
| Type | char. | Normal | Disambiguate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| by location | by type | |||
| states of Zhou Dynasty 東周列國 |
state of Qin 秦國 state of Chu 楚國 |
no example yet | state of Zhongshan 中山國 | |
| Zhongshan City 广东省中山市 | ||||
| Commandery 郡 | 1 | Nan Commandery 南郡 | no example yet | no example yet |
| >1 | Lelang Commandery 樂浪郡 | no example yet | no example yet | |
| Province or zhou (up to Sui) 州（漢至隋） |
1 | Yizhou Province 古益州 | Liangzhou Province (Hanzhong) 古梁州 | Yangzhou Province 古揚州（今江浙闽） |
| Liangzhou Province (Gansu) 古涼州 | Yangzhou 今扬州市 | |||
| >1 | Nanxuzhou Province 古南徐州 | no example yet | no example yet | |
| Prefecture or zhou / fu / ting (up to Qing) 府州廳（唐至清） |
no need for separate articles | |||
| Circuit 道 / 路 | >1 | Jingxinan Circuit 京西南路 | no example yet | Hebei Circuit 河北道（唐） |
| Hebei 今河北省 | ||||
[edit] Established translations elsewhere
Here are some established translations, officially used in China or frequently employed in Sinology literature.
- Political divisions of China
- Administrative divisions of the Republic of China
- History of the political divisions of China
- Classical political divisions
[edit] Transportation
Use the common English name of an expressway, highway, railway, railway station, or airport, if it can be determined. Otherwise, follow these patterns:
As expressways and railways follow the {abr.[1]abr.[2] Expressway/Railway} format, ex (Jingshi Expressway for 京石高速公路), use abbreviations of the first and second cities as one word, followed by Expressway/Railway, please use first capital letter format.
- Jingcheng Expressway (京承高速公路) for Beijing–Chengde
- Shitai Expressway (石太高速公路) for Shijiazhuang–Taiyuan
Major railways follow the same format:
- Jingjiu Railway (京九铁路) for Beijing–Kowloon
- Jingguang Railway (京广铁路) for Beijing–Guanzhou
As do major Highways:
- Ninghuai Highway (宁淮公路) for Ningbo–Huainan
National Highways that are numbered simply follow the format {China National Highway [number]}:
- China National Highway 102 (102国道), to be abbreviated with G{no. of highway}, ex. G105 with redirect.
Railway Station articles should have the city's name (or in some cases the station's unique name— for example, 北京丰台火车站) followed by a direction if applicable (North, South etc.), then [Railway Station]:
- Beijing Railway Station (北京站)
- Beijing West Railway Station (北京西站)
- Fengtai Railway Station (in Beijing) (北京丰台火车站)
Airport articles should have the city's name followed by the [airport's name] if applicable, followed by [International Airport] or [Airport] for domestic:
- Beijing Capital International Airport (北京首都国际机场)
- Shanghai Pudong International Airport (上海浦东国际机场)
- Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport (广州白云国际机场)
[edit] Culture
For the cuisine of China, use established terms that are understandable. Try to avoid abbreviations.
- Sichuan cuisine or Szechuan cuisine (川菜) not Chuancai or Chuan cuisine
- Cantonese cuisine (粤菜) not Yuecai or Yue cuisine
- Mandarin cuisine or Beijing cuisine (京菜) not Jingcai or Jing cuisine
For the various Chinese operas or other performance arts, use an established translation, or, if that is not available (which is usual), use pinyin.
- Beijing opera (京剧) not Jingju
- Pingju (评剧) not Hebei Opera (that term is also used for Hebei Bangzi 河北梆子)
And as always, work individual articles out on a case by case basis rather than let these conventions constrain you!
[edit] Language/dialect NPOV
The status of the various the various spoken varieties of Chinese is disputed. They are often regarded as dialects of each other, but they satisfy the criteria of being separate languages by most standards, including the lingustic ones of mutual intelligibility, and differences in grammar, phonology, and vocabulary. Due to their differences, and the linguistic classifications, and for practical reasons, the separate varieties should be de facto treated as separate languages, for the purposes of classification, listing, categorization, and terminology.
- Thus, in lists or categories such as "Number of speakers by language" or "Films by language", it is appropriate to list these varieties separately.
- Top level divisions of Chinese (Mandarin, Wu, Cantonese, Hakka, Min, etc) should be listed separately as top-level languages in lists or categories by language.
- When describing loanwords, terms, placenames, or personal names, it can be appropriate to include the names, characters, and/or romanizations from the originating language or dialect. Including the Shanghainese term would be appropriate for a placename in Shanghai or a Shanghainese dish; including the Taiwanese names for the same would not.
Nonetheless, despite their status, linguistic classifications do not necessarily correspond with traditional Chinese classification of these varieties, and viewing all these as part of a single language is an an important part of the linguistic and cultural self-identity of many Chinese. Therefore, for NPOV purposes, avoid explicitly naming them as either languages or dialects. Simply use the name itself if there is no ambiguity. If there is, then use "xxx (linguistics)" if there's dispute over whether to call it a language or dialect — this includes all the first-level divisions, the second-level divisions of Min, and Taiwanese. Use "xxx dialect" otherwise:
- Mandarin (linguistics) (北方话)
- Standard Mandarin (普通话/國語)
- Cantonese (linguistics) (粤語)
- Min Nan (閩南語)
- Taiwanese (linguistics) (台語)
In such articles, mention should be made of the language/dialect controversy. The issues over identification of the varieties of Chinese should be mentioned in the first-level divisions. However, the existence of this controversy shouldn't preclude them from being named as de-facto languages.
[edit] Political NPOV
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The following section's wording or inclusion in this policy/guideline is disputed. Please see the relevant discussion on the talk page. |
Wikipedia entries should avoid taking sides on controversial sovereignty issues such as the political status of Taiwan and Tibet. Although the United Nations and most sovereign states in the world have recognized the People's Republic of China as the sole government of China, Wikipedia should reflect the neutral reality and not use the term "China" to coincide with any particular state or government. In particular, the word "China" (in a political, diplomatic or national sense referring to current affairs) should not be used to be synonymously with areas under the current administration (government) of the People's Republic of China — (geographically) Mainland China, whether alone or together with Hong Kong and Macau. (Historical and such 'old-name' Geographic and political references before 1945—1947 excepted.)
As a general rule of thumb, the official political terms "People's Republic of China" or "PRC" and "Republic of China" or "ROC" should be used in political contexts (that is, to describe the existing governments or regimes) rather than the imprecise and politically charged terms "China" and "Taiwan." For example, "Hu Jintao is the President of the People's Republic of China" is preferred over "Hu Jintao is the President of China." Likewise, one should write "one must be an ROC citizen to vote in the ROC presidential election" as opposed to "one must be a Taiwanese citizen to vote in the Taiwanese presidential election."
One subtle yet important point: Wikipedia treats the Republic of China as a sovereign state with equal status with the People's Republic of China, yet does not address whether they are considered separate nations. Taiwan should not be described either as an independent nation or as a part of the People's Republic of China. Wikipedia should merely state the de facto situation that Taiwan is governed by an independent government/state/regime called the "Republic of China." When it is necessary to describe the political status of Taiwan, special note should be made of Taiwan's complex position. The term "province of Taiwan" can be offensive and should only be used when attributed to its source or referring specifically to the existing division under the ROC (for example, "James Soong was the only popularly elected governor of Taiwan Province").
For organizations and international events, such as the Olympic Games or APEC, official terms should be used. In the case of the Olympics, one refers to the Chinese Taipei team, instead of the "Taiwanese team" or the "ROC team." Special care should be taken to put these terms in context—the "China" team in the 1952 Olympics, for example, should not be called the "Chinese Taipei" team as the latter term did not exist yet.
Generally following the established convention of alphabetizing countries under their common names, the Republic of China (i.e. "Taiwan") should be alphabetized under "T" while the People's Republic of China should be alphabetized under "C". The former can be listed, depending on context, either as "[[Republic of China]] (Taiwan)" or "Taiwan ([[Republic of China]])".
[edit] Republic of China, Taiwan, and variations thereof
Following is the consensus guide on when to use which term in reference to subjects related to the Republic of China (Taiwan).
| Republic of China variants: ROC, RoC |
Republic of China (Taiwan) variant: Taiwan (Republic of China) |
Taiwan | Taiwan Province |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
|
The term "mainland China" is a term which can be used when a comparison is to be made with Taiwan for non-political purposes. Hong Kong and Macau are generally not considered part of Mainland China, though under the jurisdiction of the PRC. Thus, it is more appropriate to write "many tourists from Hong Kong and Taiwan are visiting mainland China" than "many tourists from Hong Kong and Taiwan are visiting China" as the latter could imply that Hong Kong and Taiwan are not part of China. "China proper" is a controversial term used refer to parts of Mainland China except Tibet, Xinjiang, and other regions associated with non-Han ethnicities.
Also note that there are potential landmines when using the term "Chinese." In particular, some find a distinction between "Chinese" and "Tibetans" or between "Chinese" and "Taiwanese" to be objectionable and the terms "Han Chinese"/"Tibetans" and "Mainland Chinese"/"Taiwanese" are more politically neutral and use will depend on the context. For example, "Mainland Chinese businessmen look forward to meeting their Taiwanese counterparts" is more accurate and acceptable than with the word "Mainland" left out.
The term "Mainlander" poses some issues. It is sometimes ambiguous whether this is referring to a resident of Mainland China or a member of the group that fled with the KMT to Taiwan in 1949. In referring to the latter group, the name is mildly objectionable when used in English and strongly objectionable when translated literally in Chinese. Preferred unambiguous names for the two groups are "Mainland Chinese" and "Wai sheng ren".
In general, one should avoid using the term "Chinese" to be synonymous with the spoken Mandarin Chinese.
[edit] Jiedushi
The office of jiedushi was originated in mid-Tang Dynasty, and gradually grew in usage. Originating out of the military command structure of Tang border forces, the use of the office spread to the rest of the realm and remained as an important office with both military and civil responsibilities until the early Song Dynasty. In general, when discussing the office of jiedushi, except in the article about the office itself:
- While using the term as an office held by a person, use "military governor (jiedushi) when referred to first time in the lead and first time in a section of the article, and then only "military governor" thereafter.
- When used in an article to refer to a specific jiedushi office rather than a specific person (e.g., Pinghai Jiedushi), use the term directly -- but --
- When used to refer to the region or area of responsibility governed by the specific jiedushi office rather than the office or the person, use "<name of office> Circuit" (e.g., in the case of Pinghai, mentioned above, "Pinghai Circuit") --
- Unless the jiedushi in question is specific to a roving army (e.g., Shuofang Xingying Jiedushi (朔方行營節度使)) in which case use "Shuofang Expedition Army" or
- Unless the jiedushi in question is specific to a military base or bases (e.g., Heyang Sanzhen Jiedushi (河陽三鎮節度使)) in which case use Three Garrisons of Heyang"
