page_title: Chinese postal romanization
hierarchical_section_title: Chinese postal romanization
caption_attribution_description: 中文（简体）‎: 1947年出版的中华民国地图和外蒙古地图。图中的南海诸岛的名称仍使用旧称。1947年中华民国地图，此图中注明外蒙古已经被民国政府批准独立。此图中南海四沙仍然沿用旧名。
context_page_description: Postal romanization was a system of transliterating Chinese place names developed by postal authorities in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. For many cities, the postal romanization was the most common English-language form of the city's name from the 1890s until the 1980s, when the pinyin system was adopted.
  In the late 19th century, China had various competing postal services, including a British postal service and the Imperial Maritime Customs Post Office. After postmarking equipment was introduced in the 1880s, postage was canceled with a stamp that gave the city of origin in Latin letters. In 1896, the Customs Post was combined with other postal services and renamed the Chinese Imperial Post. With the post office a national agency, the romanizations it used could be treated as standard.
  When the Wade–Giles system of romanization became widespread, some argued that the post office should adopt it. This idea was rejected at a conference held in 1906 in Shanghai. The conference selected a system developed by Herbert Giles called "Nanking syllabary". This decision allowed the post office to continue using various romanizations that it had already selected.
context_section_description: Postal romanization was a system of transliterating Chinese place names developed by postal authorities in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. For many cities, the postal romanization was the most common English-language form of the city's name from the 1890s until the 1980s, when the pinyin system was adopted.
  In the late 19th century, China had various competing postal services, including a British postal service and the Imperial Maritime Customs Post Office. After postmarking equipment was introduced in the 1880s, postage was canceled with a stamp that gave the city of origin in Latin letters. In 1896, the Customs Post was combined with other postal services and renamed the Chinese Imperial Post. With the post office a national agency, the romanizations it used could be treated as standard.
  When the Wade–Giles system of romanization became widespread, some argued that the post office should adopt it. This idea was rejected at a conference held in 1906 in Shanghai. The conference selected a system developed by Herbert Giles called "Nanking syllabary". This decision allowed the post office to continue using various romanizations that it had already selected. Wade-Giles romanization is based on the Beijing dialect, which is now standard. The system the post office adopted is based on Nanjing pronunciation.
caption: A map of China with romanizations published in 1947
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