With international exchanges and gatherings becoming more common, Chinese in pinyin, mainly the names of people and places has become more and more common. Pinyin is a system for transliterating Chinese characters into the Roman alphabet and was officially adopted by the People's Republic of China in 1979.

To standardize the spelling of names in pinyin, China implemented a revised rule on October 1, 2012, stating that when spelling Chinese people's names in pinyin, the family name should be followed by the given name.

To better unify English translations of the country's railway stations, the Ministry of Railways said that pinyin should replace English for station names that have place names and directions from September 1 this year. For example, Beijing Nan Railway station replaced the previously named Beijing South Railway Station.

According to the related departments, these new rules are adopted to better present Chinese culture to foreigners. But widespread public discussion ensued. Supporters agreed that the national standard follows Chinese customs and would help foreigners understand China. However, others maintained that people have the right to choose how to spell their names, and replacing English names at stations with Chinese pinyin will cause confusion.

FOR

Li Yuming

Official with the State Language Commission

The function of a name is to facilitate recognition. A unified standard on the spelling in pinyin is just for this purpose. When a name is written as San Zhang, following the writing style of Westerners, people may mistake San as the family name and Zhang as the given name. The reality is that Chinese name spelling confused people on international occasions due to lack of clear regulation.

Spelling Chinese names in line with the national standard will avoid unnecessary problems when registering for events or exchanging business cards. Following the rule of family name first and given name last also shows people's recognition to China's national culture.

He Yonghai

Zhengzhou Evening News

The introduction of the national standard is timely and safeguards the dignity of the Chinese language.

Chinese is our mother tongue. We should underline the importance and the international standing of Chinese pinyin as the rising of the mother tongue reflects the strengthening of our national comprehensive power. Chinese should be confident of their own culture and need not follow Western traditions when writing names. Only when foreigners gradually understand our traditions then respect them and follow them, could more and more foreigners come to learn and use the Chinese language.

Following international conventions is not an excuse to disregard our nation's standards. Moreover, it is reported that not every Western country follows the rule of given name first and family name last. For example, Hungary has the same tradition as China when writing names. And in Asia, countries influenced by Chinese culture like Japan, South Korea and Viet Nam all keep surnames before given names. 

Long Minfei

Guangzhou Daily

I agree with a unified standard but worry that making everyone to follow it will be a tough job.

In reality you have your rules and I have my choice, and the two sides seem to be independent from each other. Thus, it is necessary to upgrade the tradition to a compulsory rule. In private, one can write the name as one pleases. But on formal occasions, such as printing business cards or publishing books, the national standard should be observed.

As the influence of the standard is far from profound, the urgent agenda should be making the public familiar with it. For example, the rule can be used in students' textbooks to promote awareness from childhood. But before any changes, public opinions should be solicited.