In 1979, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) decided to employ the pinyin sys-
tem of romanization for foreign publications. The pinyin system is now recog-
nized internationally. As a result, the pinyin system is the preferred method in the
present volume. Prior to this decision by the PRC, the Wade-Giles system had
gained wide international acceptance. Certain terms, therefore, may appear un-
der spellings unfamiliar to the reader. For example, Wade-Giles Hsing I Ch’uan
or Hsing I Chuanappears as pinyin Xingyiquan,and Wing Chun is romanized
as Yongchun.Pinyin spellings will be used in most cases. Old spellings, often un-
systematic, are given in parentheses, for example Li Cunyi(Li Tsun-I). For those
terms that are well established in another spelling, pinyin is noted in parentheses
for consistency; for example, Pangai Noon(pinyin banyingruan). For Chinese
names and terms that are not associated with the PRC, we have chosen to fol-
low locally preferred romanizations.
xixA Note on Romanization