Wikipedia:Naming conventions (Chinese)

Characters All encyclopedia entries whose title is a Chinese names SHOULD include the Chinese characters and Hanyu Pinyin representation for that name 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 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.

Romanization Main discussion: Talk:Transcription of Chinese

Romanization presents some difficult issues in that it is a highly political issue. The most often used romanization is pinyin. Though many 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 except when there is a more popularly used form in English (such as Taoism) or when the subject of the entry is likely to object to romanization in pinyin. When an entry is not in pinyin form, there should be a redirect to the article from the pinyin form.

Names Chinese names, unlike Western names, presents family/clan[?] name first. Unlike other instances were this occurs, it is standard practice in English to also present a Chinese name last name first (i.e. Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping). Chinese names should be in Hanyu Pinyin unless there is a more common name used in English (i.e. Chiang Kai-shek, Sun Yat-sen) or when the subject of the article is likely to prefer a non-pinyin phonetization as is likely the case with personages from Taiwan, Hong Kong, etc. (i.e. Lee Teng-hui, Tung Chee Hwa).

The encyclopedia should reference the name more familar to most English readers. For most historical figures the means that encyclopedia entry should reference the Chinese name rather than the English name, with a redirect from the English name. However, there are exceptions for figures whose English name is more familar (Confucius) and for figures who were raised in non-Chinese societies and whose Chinese names are unfamilar (Vera Wang and Maya Lin).

Another special case is for a figure whose Chinese name is familar but used in English ordering (e.g. Wen Ho Lee[?]). In this case, the primary entry should be under the English ordering with a redirect from the Chinese ordering.

When using pinyin for a Chinese name, pinyin spacing and capitalization conventions should be used. This includes keeping the last name separate and the given name capitalized with the different characters not indicated by spacing, hyphenization, or capitalization. There should be no space between the first and second given names. When using Wade-Giles, a dash should be put between the first and last given names, and the second given name should not be capitalised. (e.g. Lee Teng-hui, not Lee Teng Hui)

Names of Groups The main entry for a Chinese group should be under the name most familar to English speakers. In some cases, this will be the translated name (e.g. 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 (e.g. Kuomintang). Where this is not the pinyin transliteration there should be a link from 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.

Names of Emperors The general principle is to use the name which is most familar 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.

1) Emperors before the Tang dynasty: use posthumous names. eg. Han Wu Di. 2) Emperors between Tang dynasty and Ming dynasty: use temple names eg. Tang tai zong. 3) Emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasty: use era names (same as reign names) eg. Kangxi. 4) If there is a more common convention than using posthumous, temple or era names, then use it. eg. Cao Cao instead of Wei wu di. Or Sima Yi instead of Jin xuan di. This is often the case with founders of dynasties and the special case of Puyi.

Because these are reign names are not personal names, the correct phrasing for emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasty is the "Kangxi Emperor" rather than "Emperor Kangxi".

Political NPOV Wikipedia entries should avoid taking sides on issues such as the status of Taiwan and Tibet. In particular the word China should not be used to be synonymously with areas under current administration by the People's Republic of China or with Mainland China. The term "Mainland China" is a non-political term to be can used when a comparison is to be made with Taiwan, and "China proper" is a non-political term which can be used when making a comparison with Tibet. Although the used of the term "Manchuria" is considered by some to be somewhat objectionable when used in Chinese, it is largely considered a non-political and non-objectionable term when used in English.

Taiwan should not be described either as an independent nation or as a part of the People's Republic of China. It should be only described as part of 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.

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.

The term "Mainlander" poses some issues. It is sometimes ambiguous whether this is refering to a resident of Mainland China or a member of the group that fled with the KMT to Taiwan in 1949. In refering to the latter group, the name is mildly objectionable when used in English and strongly objectionable when translated literally in Chinese. Preferred unambigous names for the two groups are "Mainland Chinese" and "wai sheng ren".

Hakka is the preferred name for that group even though the Mandarin word for that is something completely different phonetically.

In general, one should avoid using the term "Chinese" to be synonymous with the spoken Mandarin Chinese.