A David Barboza business story in today’s New York Times, about difficulties surrounding the Chinese release of Memoirs of a Geisha, contains the following passage:
A public-service announcement to copy desks: Following standard Chinese practice, Gong Li‘s family name is “Gong”; “Li” is her given name. On second reference, she is “Ms. Gong.”
Ziyi Zhang, on the other hand, has reversed her original Chinese name, Zhang Ziyi. On second reference, she is “Ms. Zhang.”
Michelle Yeoh is “Ms. Yeoh” on second reference.
The Times‘ all-time Gong Li scorecard: “Ms. Gong,” 14 references; “Ms. Li,” 4 references.
Number of corrections of “Ms. Li”: 0.