Wikipedia:History standards for China-related articles

''These guidelines are under continual development. Discuss it and improve it.''

These guidelines mainly deal with history contents in China-related articles. Please follow the conventions below. Note
 * see Manual of Style for general cases
 * see History for notes on the style of history articles
 * see Manual of Style for China-related articles for the style of China-related articles.
 * see Naming conventions (Chinese) for naming convention of the title of an article, various Chinese names, etc.
 * see Chinese wikipedians' notice board for ongoing news and tasks relevant to China-related topics

The general guideline
The romanization of Chinese characters of all the following issue should always be Hanyu Pinyin (or pinyin in shorthand) unless some other representations were established and have been widely accepted. For example, Lao Zi is the article title for the famous Chinese Taoist philosopher whereas Confucius is the article title instead of Kong Fuzi. Similar case holds for Sun Tzu. Further discussions will be (and were) required, as in Daoism versus Taoism, if the distinction is not clear-cut.

If there is a term you have trouble translating, please bring it up in the Talk page, then, if you wish, drop a short note at Talk:List of China-related topics or any Wikipedian with a knowledge of the Chinese language for attention.

Chinese rulers of Zhou Dynasty
Use King (posthumous name) of Zhou

Chinese head of state of Qin Dynasty
Simply use the format in the table in Qin Dynasty

Chinese Emperor
Use Emperor (posthumous name) of (name of dynasty) China for rulers from Han Dynasty, Southern and Northern Dynasties and Sui Dynasty.

Use Emperor (Temple name) of (name of dynasty) China for rulers of the Tang Dynasty, Five Dynasties, Song Dynasty, Liao Dynasty, Jin Dynasty, and emperors of the Yuan Dynasty after Kublai Khan (exclusive). There are exceptions; please refer to the individual dynasty articles for information. This goes especially for the Yuan Dynasty emperors before Kublai Khan (inclusive).

Use (Era name) Emperor for rulers of the Ming Dynasty and Qing Dynasty. Exceptions hold for Nurhaci and his son Hong Taiji, the first two rulers before the establishment of Qing Dynasty.

Use first name and family name for other rulers of China not mentioned above. For example, rulers of the Three Kingdoms, Sixteen Kingdoms and Ten Kingdoms.

Other forms should relegate to redirects.

For example Emperor Wu of Han China is the article title. Hanwudi. Han Wudi, Han Wu Di, Wudi of Han Dynasty, Wudi of Han China etc. would be redirects. Similar case holds for Emperor Taizong of Tang China, instead of Li Shimin or Emperor Tang Taizong of China. Another example is Hongwu Emperor of China, instead of Zhu Yuanzhang.

Male Nobility
Use (title of peerage) (posthumous name) of (name of place).

王 (Wáng) is translated as "King" if he is the head of state, as "Prince" otherwise. For example, King Wuling of Zhao is employed for the ruler of the State of Zhao in the Warring States period. Emperor Taizong of Tang China was the "Prince" of Qin before accession.

公 (gōng) is only translated as "Duke" if the person actually held such title. For example, Duke Mu of Qin. Reminiscence (in epitaphs) for a deceased male relative do not count.
 * 侯 (hóu) is translated as "Marquess".
 * 伯 (bó) is translated as "Earl".
 * 子 (zǐ) is translated as "Viscount".
 * 男 (nán) is translated as "Baron".

Qing Dynasty Nobility
As Qing Dynasty Nobility naming conventions go by a vastly different system compared to other major dynasties, a different set of naming conventions are needed. Please see the discussion here for details.

The conventions are as follows:

For Article Titles

1.All Qing Dynasty nobility of the imperial family line are to be named by given name, i.e. Dorgon (the Prince Rui), Yinxiang (the Prince Yi) etc. With the following important exceptions, deemed necessary by their frequency of usage in English literature: 2.All Qing Dynasty nobility that had received given titles as a distinction for valour and achievement will be titled by their given name, as their titles are seldom attached to their names in either Chinese nor English literature.
 * Yixuan will be known as the 1st Prince Chun.
 * Zaifeng will be known as the 2nd Prince Chun.
 * Yikuang will be known as the Prince Qing.
 * Yixin will be known as the Prince Gong.
 * Note:All the above pages must also be redirected from pages titled with their given name.

3.Articles with a hereditary title that is inherited through multiple generations without a change to the title itself, such as Prince Zheng and Prince Yi, will not be about individuals, but rather have a list of every person that had inherited the title, along with the rank and year.

For Introduction Paragraphs


 * [given name], the [name of princedom] (Chinese:[name in Chinese including Prince title]; Pinyin: [name only]; Wade-Giles: [name only]; Posthumous name (if applicable): [pinyin, Chinese]; [any name changes during lifetime, for example, avoiding an Emperor's taboo]) ([date of birth and death]) of the Manchu [clan name] clan as a noble of the Qing Dynasty born as the [order of birth] surviving son to [father]. His mother was [name] of [clan].

(Perhaps a template would do for the first paragraph)


 * Example:
 * Yinti, the Prince Xun (Chinese: 恂郡王胤禵; Pinyin: Yìntí; Wade-Giles: Yin-t'i; Posthumous name: Qín 勤; born Yinzheng 胤祯; Yunti 允禵 to avoid Yongzheng's taboo;) (1688—1767) of the Aisin-Gioro clan was the Kangxi Emperor's fourteenth son who was said to be the favourite to succeed him. He was the brother of Yinzhen born to the same mother, the De Concubine of the Wuya Clan (i.e. the Xiaogong Empress Dowager 孝恭仁太后).

Battles
The general guideline holds. Battle of Red Cliffs is the article title. Battle of Chibi remains as redirect. Landform in Chinese characters should always be converted into English or skipped if possible. Pinyin romanizations are only used if English equivalences create more problems. For example:


 * Battle of Wuzhang Plain instead of Battle of Wuzhang Yuan
 * Battle of Fei or Battle of Fei River instead of Battle of Feishui
 * Battle of Tumu or Battle of Tumu Fortress instead of Battle of Tumu Bao.

Dynasties
It should always be (Name of dynasty) dynasty. Years should not be included except for disambiguation purposes.

States and Places
For more detailed naming conventions, see Naming conventions (Chinese).

Two forms have been in use: One uses only the pinyin romanization of the name of state while the other uses State of (name of state). Please refer to the talk page.

Events
The general guideline holds. For example,


 * War of the Eight Princes instead of Rebellion of the Eight Kings
 * An Lushan Rebellion instead of Anshi Rebellion

History of China Series Template
The following template bases on the dynastic cycle format which is the most widely accepted chronological method among laymen and experts. Several other formats have been in use concurrently. Please refer to Chinese historiography for details.

Era names
Era name is the "motto" for a period of reign.

This edition of Wikipedia is in English, so explicit use of era names in Chinese characters is strongly discouraged unless for listing purposes. Unfortunately, online English version of Gregorian-era names converter has yet to be done. Please convert a specific era name into Gregorian dates for chronological and dating purposes or follow the general guideline. If there is a term you have trouble translating, please bring it up in the Talk page, then, if you wish, drop a short note at Talk:List of China-related topics or any Wikipedian with a knowledge of the Chinese language for attention.