Just
as “Beijing” is pronounced as “Peking”
by Wade-Giles Spelling System, Wade-Giles pronunciation of “Zhangyu” is “Changyu”.
It is known that Thomas Francis Wade is the Chinese Secretary of the British
Embassy in China
in the 1860s, while Wade-Giles Spelling System is invented by him to facilitate
foreigners’ Chinese learning in 1868. The system generated great influence home
and abroad and was applied to many Chinese place names, personal names and
brand names. In 1958, after the issuance of the modern Chinese phonetic
alphabet, many time-honored brands and well-known trademarks remained their
Wade-Giles spelling by the consent of the state.