Nowadays, Chinese people have more and more opportunities to meet foreigners, and they also have the opportunity to publish some articles at some international conferences. How should they introduce their names at this time? Writing Chinese characters is definitely not possible, and the vast majority of Chinese people do not have the habit of giving themselves foreign names. The more common method is to spell their names in Chinese pinyin. But what’s interesting is that when many Chinese people spell their names in pinyin, they put their first name in front and their last name in the back. For example, I write my name as ‘Lei Gao’. Ask him why he writes like this, and he will plausibly tell you that foreigners write like this, so we Chinese must also write like this in accordance with international practice. Yes, for foreigners, the given name comes first and the surname comes last. For example, Bill Gates, as we all know him, is his first name and Gates is his last name. Moreover, the way foreigners address names is similar to that of Chinese people. For example, when they are close friends, or to express close feelings, they directly call others by their names, just like we Chinese call them "Shaoqi", "Enlai" and "Xiaoping" Same, it is an expression of affection; U.S. President Bush, we sometimes call him Bush Jr. and his father Bush Sr., just like we Chinese call a father and son named Zhang "Lao Zhang" and "Xiao Zhang" Same. But the question is, when Chinese names are written in pinyin, do they have to put their first name first and last last name like foreigners do? My opinion is that it is inappropriate to write like this. It not only violates the principle of “territorial priority”, but also loses the long cultural tradition of the Chinese nation, and is not conducive to international exchanges and communication. The following is an explanation in turn: What is territorial priority? The so-called territorial priority means that when referring to names, place names, or other things with local cultural characteristics, we must respect the local people's names. In layman's terms, it means following the local people's name. For example, in my hometown of Liu'an, Anhui Province, the standard pronunciation of the character 'Liu' is 'Liu', but when pronouncing place names, it should be pronounced as 'Lu'. The pronunciation of 'Liu' is wrong (of course, most people will not notice this. Yes, I still insist on pronouncing 'Liu', but the announcer of CCTV did pronounce 'Lu' when pronouncing this place name. Interested readers can pay attention). There is no other reason, just because the locals pronounce it that way. Also, some of our Chinese specialty snacks, such as dumplings and wontons, are translated into English as "Jiaozi" and "Wonton", which are actually Chinese Pinyin. If you have to translate it into English, then both of them are dumplings. What do you think is the difference between them? What's more, dumpling has other meanings in English. So instead of racking your brains to explain to a foreigner what is the difference between this dumpling and that dumpling, it would be more refreshing to just tell him directly that this dumpling is called ‘Jiaozi’. No reason, just because we Chinese call this dumpling, so you foreigners have to pronounce it that way too. Then again, what we Chinese call ‘coffee’ and ‘chocolate’ are actually transliterations of English words. Why are they called so? This is the principle of territorial priority. Some comrades may think that what I said is wrong. Because in international exchanges, foreigners' habits must be taken into account, so the first name is placed in front and the surname is placed in the back. It is convenient for foreigners to know which is the surname and which is the given name, and to facilitate the address. This is actually the second issue I mentioned, which is the long cultural tradition that is not conducive to the Chinese nation. You must know that there is no superiority or inferiority between different cultures, and there is no need for one culture to bow down to another culture. To paraphrase the words of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein (this is one of the few classic words said by Saddam, although it is somewhat in the spirit of Ah Q): "When our ancestors created the splendid Mesopotamia Civilization, The ancestors of Americans and British people were still digging in caves." Chinese civilization has a long history and is profound. We have put our surname first for thousands of years. Today, why do we change our names according to the habits of foreigners? We Chinese do not change our names when we are walking, or our surnames when we sit down. Whatever we are originally called, we still call us whatever we are called in front of foreigners. But at this point, there are two issues that need clarification. The first question is, if the Chinese give themselves foreign names, for example, many white-collar workers in foreign-funded companies now call each other "Jack", "Susan", and "Tom", this issue is a different matter. Because your name itself is a foreign name, you naturally have to follow foreign rules.
Just like the movie star Jackie Chan, his English name is JACKIE CHAN; Jet Li, his English name is Jet Li. This is normal because they need to develop internationally. They use English names to facilitate foreigners' recognition and memory, and they just do as the locals do. The second question is that some people may bring up such a counter-evidence, saying that Premier Zhou had a very classic translation, which translated the name of the play "Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai" into "Chinese Romeo and Juliet". Wouldn't it be wrong to translate it like this? Lost Chinese tradition? The essence of this question is actually the same as above. Its purpose is to promote Chinese culture internationally and facilitate the understanding of foreigners. Just as if you introduce to an elderly person in rural China what "Romeo and Juliet" is, and you tell him that this is the foreign "Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai", he will understand immediately. This is a means of cultural promotion. , although on the surface it is a foreign thing, its essence is still Chinese, it is Chinese culture covered with a foreign skin. What I have said above is all about the writing of names from a cultural perspective. Finally, I will talk about the third principle, which is also to facilitate international communication and exchanges. Some comrades may not understand. You wrote according to Chinese habits and did not take care of foreigners. How come it actually facilitates international exchanges? Lenin has a famous saying: "Only what belongs to the nation belongs to the world." This is the truth. Only by adhering to the characteristics of one's own nation can one stand among the nations of the world. If the way Chinese names are written is not uniform, some Chinese people have their first names first and their surnames last, and some Chinese people have their last names first and their given names last, foreigners will be confused. They will not be able to figure out whether you put the first name or the first name. I don't know what to call you. If he really calls you by your first name and last name, I don’t think many Chinese people would realize that he is calling you by your own name. Therefore, it is said that the writing method of putting the first name first and the last name last is not conducive to international communication. It should be unified to put the first name first and the first name last. There are also practical benefits to doing this. Chinese surnames are basically single surnames with loud syllables, easy to address and easy to distinguish. For example, Liu Xiang, foreigners call him "China Liu", what a loud name; Yao Ming, you can often hear the shouts of "Yao, Yao, Yao" in NBA games. We all know that this is for Yao Ming. Come on, but never heard anyone shout 'Ming, Ming, Ming'. If someone really calls Yao Ming that, I think it would be more appropriate for Ye Li to call him that. It would be a bit disgusting for others to call him that. Therefore, when you introduce your name to foreigners in the future, be sure not to reverse the order. Remember, the surname comes first and the given name comes last. My name is Gao Lei, not Lei Gao.