Chinese postal romanization

Chinese postal romanization
A map of China with romanizations published in 1947
Traditional Chinese	郵政式拼音
Simplified Chinese	邮政式拼音
Literal meaning	Postal-style romanization system
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Yóuzhèng shì Pīnyīn Bopomofo ㄧㄡˊ ㄓㄥˋ ㄕˋ ㄆㄧㄣ ㄧㄣ Wade–Giles Yu2-cheng4 shih4 P'in1-yin1 Tongyong Pinyin Yóu-jhèng shìh Pin-yin IPA [jǒʊ.ʈʂə̂ŋ ʂɻ̩̂ pʰín.ín] Wu Shanghainese Romanization Yoe1tzen3 seq4 Phin1in1 Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Yàuhjing sīk Pingyām Jyutping jau4 zing3 sik1 ping3 jam1 IPA [jɐu˩ tseŋ˧ sek̚˥ pʰeŋ˧ jɐm˥] Southern Min Hokkien POJ Iû-chèng sek Phèng-im

Postal romanization^[1] was a system of transliterating place names in China developed by postal authorities in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. For many cities, the corresponding postal romanization was the most common English-language form of the city's name from the 1890s until the 1980s, when postal romanization was replaced by pinyin, but the system remained in place on Taiwan until 2002.

In 1892, Herbert Giles created a romanization system called the Nanking syllabary. The Imperial Maritime Customs Post Office would cancel postage with a stamp that gave the city of origin in Latin letters, often romanized using Giles's system. In 1896, the Customs Post was combined with other postal services and renamed the Chinese Imperial Post. As a national agency, the Imperial Post was an authority on Chinese place names.^[2]

When the Wade–Giles system became widespread, some argued that the post office should adopt it. This idea was rejected at a conference held in 1906 in Shanghai. Instead, the conference formally adopted Nanking syllabary.^[3] This decision allowed the post office to continue to use various romanizations that it had already selected. Wade–Giles romanization is based on the Beijing dialect, a pronunciation standard since the 1850s. The use of Nanking syllabary did not suggest that the post office considered Nanjing pronunciation to be standard. Rather, it was an attempt to accommodate a variety of Mandarin pronunciations with a single romanization system.