ATC
Conventions

Dates and periods

Date during the Common Era <512>

= <512 CE>, Common Era,
= <512 CE>, Christian Era

Date before the Common Era: <-512>
Digit preceded by the <->, ‘minus’ sign.

= <512 BC>, before the Common Era,
= <512 BCE>, before the Christian Era

Periods 

Period start and end dates: <512, 623>
Period start and end dates: <-512, -215>

Hypothetical dates :
<~> before a date indicates that this date is hypothetical
<~513>; <~-513>

Period with approximate or hypothetical start and end dates:
<~-512 ~-215>

Hypothetical birth dates (~-512 -215)
Hypothetical death dates (-512 ~-215)

Transcription of authors’ names

Pinyin transcription is the official modern transcription of standard Chinese using the letters of the Latin alphabet (CK).

Other transcription systems

Wade – Giles system

EFEO system, from the École française d’Extrême-Orient (EFEO), designed by Séraphin Couvreur in 1902.

We will use the pinyin transcription first.
Other types of transcriptions can be found in the texts; quotations respect the author’s choice.