<p>For prettify and easier to recognize at first glance.</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>清 李光庭</p>
</blockquote>

<p><code>清</code> means Qing dynasty, <code>李光庭</code> is a name.</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>唐 李益 詩</p>
</blockquote>

<p><code>唐</code> means Tang dynasty, <code>李益</code> is a name and <code>詩</code> means poetry.</p>

<p>If no spaces between them, like <code>唐李益詩</code> will looks like a man named <code>李益詩</code> at Tang dynasty or even an idiom, because we can treat <code>益</code> as a verb, <code>唐李</code> and <code>詩</code> are nouns.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-04-21T14:07:46.110Z
2016-04-21T14:07:46.110Z
yyc1217
<p>This is two cases, as your first figure, '李冀', it is a typography  as other answers said.</p>

<p>But in tradition, people's name tend to have leading space, called '抬头'. It shows respect to the one.</p>

<p>As your second screenshot, it uses '抬头' obviously. </p>

<p>Or more accurately, it is '挪抬'. You simply add one-character space before people's name(or other words that addressed he.
<a href="https://i.sstatic.net/DRWRJ.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/DRWRJ.jpg" alt="enter image description here"></a>). </p>

<p>All the '蒋总统' have a space before it. Look at the blue rectangle, these poor people '张学良' and '杨虎城' do not have, because they did bad things to '蒋总统'.</p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/HA2q7.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/HA2q7.png" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>

<p>This is modern example, '贵部' (Your department) has a space before it.</p>

<p>You can check more infos about '抬头' from <a href="https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%8A%AC%E9%A0%AD" rel="nofollow noreferrer">wikipedia</a></p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-04-22T16:36:32.623Z
2016-04-22T16:41:37.680Z
2016-04-22T16:41:37.680Z
sfy
<p>No space is needed when writing Chinese names.</p>

<p>Sometimes, spaces are added for better alignment only. To align 2-character and 3-character names, space may be added in between 2-character names. Example:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>李　白<br>
  杜　甫<br>
  白居易<br>
  李　賀<br>
  陳子昂<br>
  王　勃<br>
  賀知章<br>
  王昌齡</p>
</blockquote>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-04-21T09:10:24.967Z
2016-04-21T09:10:24.967Z
wilson
<p>I asked a similar question about Japanese <a href="https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/30117/usage-of-spaces-in-japanese">here</a>.</p>

<ul>
<li>Chinese names are sometimes stylized <code>last name + space + first name</code>.</li>
</ul>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/FfojO.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/FfojO.png" alt="image"></a></p>

<p>Here the author's name 马骥 is stylized, <code>last name + space + first name</code>:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>马 骥</p>
</blockquote>

<ul>
<li>Hanyu Da Cidian likes to throw spaces around proper nouns.</li>
</ul>

<p>Here's a screenshot from Pleco</p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/mmlBe.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/mmlBe.jpg" alt="something"></a></p>

<p>First and second spaces can been seen:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>清 李光庭 </p>
</blockquote>

<p>(the second space is after 庭 and before《)</p>

<p>Third and fourth spaces:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>唐 李益 詩</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Are there any rules as to the usage of spaces in Chinese?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-04-21T05:57:53.450Z
Space in Chinese names: do you mean the alignment of 2 and 3 character names?
imrek
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-04-21T06:27:10.523Z
I'm not entirely sure what you're asking. In general, Chinese uses no spaces whatsoever, at least not within sentences. Check any book or any website in Chinese and you will find that this is the case. This includes names.
Olle Linge
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-04-21T06:30:00.170Z
@OlleLinge Added pic.
Mou某
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-04-21T06:33:38.877Z
I agree with @DrunkenMaster 's opinion – although in this case it's not alignment, it's the consideration of typography but not Chinese.
Stan
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-04-21T14:20:02.673Z
Another case is [挪抬](https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/抬頭) (obsolete in Mainland China), which shows extra respect to someone. Though, the `唐 李益 詩` case is unrelated to this usage and would be considered as typographic consideration too.
Stan
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-04-21T17:21:58.000Z
Agree with @Stan it's typography instead of punctuation. The first example is for alignment with 3-character names. The "spaces" in the second example are virtually tabs formatted as spacing.
NS.X.
<usage>
Usage: Spaces in Chinese
# Usage: Spaces in Chinese

(Asked by: username_0 on 2016-04-21)

I asked a similar question about Japanese [here](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/30117/usage-of-spaces-in-japanese).

* Chinese names are sometimes stylized `last name + space + first name`.

[![image](https://i.sstatic.net/FfojO.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/FfojO.png)

Here the author's name 马骥 is stylized, `last name + space + first name`:

> 马 骥

* Hanyu Da Cidian likes to throw spaces around proper nouns.

Here's a screenshot from Pleco

[![something](https://i.sstatic.net/mmlBe.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/mmlBe.jpg)

First and second spaces can been seen:

> 清 李光庭

(the second space is after 庭 and before《)

Third and fourth spaces:

> 唐 李益 詩

Are there any rules as to the usage of spaces in Chinese?

**Tags:** usage

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Space in Chinese names: do you mean the alignment of 2 and 3 character names?  
> **username_2**: I'm not entirely sure what you're asking. In general, Chinese uses no spaces whatsoever, at least not within sentences. Check any book or any website in Chinese and you will find that this is the case. This includes names.  
> **username_0**: @username_2 Added pic.  
> **username_3**: I agree with @DrunkenMaster 's opinion – although in this case it's not alignment, it's the consideration of typography but not Chinese.  
> **username_3**: Another case is [挪抬](https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/抬頭) (obsolete in Mainland China), which shows extra respect to someone. Though, the `唐 李益 詩` case is unrelated to this usage and would be considered as typographic consideration too.  
> **username_4**: Agree with @username_3 it's typography instead of punctuation. The first example is for alignment with 3-character names. The "spaces" in the second example are virtually tabs formatted as spacing.  

---

## 3 answers

### Answer by username_7 on 2016-04-21. Score: 7 | Accepted answer

No space is needed when writing Chinese names.

Sometimes, spaces are added for better alignment only. To align 2-character and 3-character names, space may be added in between 2-character names. Example:

> 李　白  
> 杜　甫  
> 白居易  
> 李　賀  
> 陳子昂  
> 王　勃  
> 賀知章  
> 王昌齡


---

### Answer by username_5 on 2016-04-21. Score: 3

For prettify and easier to recognize at first glance.

> 清 李光庭

`清` means Qing dynasty, `李光庭` is a name.

> 唐 李益 詩

`唐` means Tang dynasty, `李益` is a name and `詩` means poetry.

If no spaces between them, like `唐李益詩` will looks like a man named `李益詩` at Tang dynasty or even an idiom, because we can treat `益` as a verb, `唐李` and `詩` are nouns.


---

### Answer by username_6 on 2016-04-22. Score: 3

This is two cases, as your first figure, '李冀', it is a typography as other answers said.

But in tradition, people's name tend to have leading space, called '抬头'. It shows respect to the one.

As your second screenshot, it uses '抬头' obviously.

Or more accurately, it is '挪抬'. You simply add one-character space before people's name(or other words that addressed he.
[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/DRWRJ.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/DRWRJ.jpg)).

All the '蒋总统' have a space before it. Look at the blue rectangle, these poor people '张学良' and '杨虎城' do not have, because they did bad things to '蒋总统'.

[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/HA2q7.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/HA2q7.png)

This is modern example, '贵部' (Your department) has a space before it.

You can check more infos about '抬头' from [wikipedia](https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%8A%AC%E9%A0%AD)


---

