List of famous Chinese people

Famous Chinese or Chinese-speaking/writing people.

Note In Chinese names, the family name is typically placed first (for example, the family name of "Mao Zedong" is "Mao"). For westernized names, the family name is placed last (for example, the family name of "Maggie Cheung" is "Cheung"). The following names are listed in alphabetic order, by family names.

Table of contents

1 Rulers and politicians 1.1 Imperial times 1.2 People's Republic of China 1.3 Republic of China 1.4 Others 2 Non-politician royalties 3 Artists and perfomers 3.5 Painters and calligraphers 3.6 Actors and actresses 3.7 Film-makers 3.8 Singers 3.9 Musicians 3.10 Martial Artists 4 Athletes 5 Educators 6 Entreprenuers 7 Explorers 8 Military officers and soldiers 9 Philosophers and writers 10 Linguist 11 Religion 12 Scientists and engineers 13 Others 14 Fictional Chinese people 15 See also

Rulers and politicians

Imperial times

• Aixinjueluo Puyi, the last emperor
• Empress Dowager Cixi, Qing dynasty de facto leader
• Dou Xian
• Fu Hsi
• Genghis Khan, Mongolian emperor
• Gao Lishi, Tang, corrupt
• Han Gao Zu
• Han Shangdi
• Hongwu Emperor of China
• Hong Tianguifu, king of Taiping
• Hong Xiuquan, king of Taiping
• Kangxi Emperor of China, Emperor of the Qing Dynasty
• Kublai Khan
• Li Hongzhang, Qing statesman
• Li Zicheng, Ming rebel leader
• Empress Dowager Lü of Han Empire
• Qin Shi Huangdi, first emperor
• Sima Guang
• Emperor Tang Taizong of China
• Wang An-shih
• Wu Zetian, Empress of China
• Yan Song, corrupt prime minister
• Yang Guozhong, Tang official by guanxi
• Yongle Emperor of China
• Zheng Chenggong

See also: Chinese sovereign, Table of Chinese monarchs

People's Republic of China

• Chen Duxiu
• Deng Nan
• Deng Pufang
• Deng Xiaoping
• Deng Yingchao
• Gang of Four
  • Jiang Qing
  • Wang Hongwen
  • Yao Wenyuan
  • Zhang Chunqiao
• Hu Jintao
• Hu Yaobang
• Hua Guofeng
• Jiang Zemin
• Kang Sheng
• Li Peng
• Liu Shaoqi
• Mao Zedong
• Tung Chee Hwa
• Wen Jiabao
• Xie Fuzhi
• Zhao Ziyang
• Zhou Enlai
• Zhu Rongji

Republic of China

• Chen Shui-bian
• Chiang Ching-Kuo
• Chiang Kai-shek
• Chu Mei-feng
• H. H. Kung
• Lee Teng-hui
• Lien Chan
• Ma Ying-jeou
• Qiu Jin, female revolutionary
• James Soong
• Soong sisters
  • Soong Ai-ling
  • Soong Ching-ling
  • Soong May-ling
• Sun Yat Sen
• Sung Chiao-jen
• Wang Chien-shien
• Wang Jingwei
• Yen Chia-jin
• Yuan Shi-Kai

Others

• Wuer Kaixi,
• Li Lu

Non-politician royalties

• Yang Guifei, emperor-consort
• Concubine Qi
• Xishi, melancholy beauty

Artists and perfomers

Painters and calligraphers

• Wang Xizhi, calligrapher
• Xue Wei, painter
• Wei Shuo, female calligrapher

Actors and actresses

• Jackie Chan
• Sammi Cheng
• Leslie Cheung
• Maggie Cheung
• Chow Yun-Fat
• Gong Li
• Sammo Hung
• Leon Lai
• Bruce Lee
• Tony Leung Chiu Wai
• Jet Li
• Ling Bai
• Zhang Ziyi

Film-makers

• Ang Lee
• Jackie Chan
• King Hu
• Ringo Lam
• Ng Wui
• Tsui Hark
• Wayne Wang
• Wong Kar-wai
• John Woo
• Zhang Yimou

See also: Chinese film history

Singers

• Roman Tam
• Faye Wong

See also: Cantopop

Musicians

• Ch'eng Mao-yün, violinist and composer

Martial Artists

• Cheng Man-ch'ing, Tai Chi
• Leung Sheung
• Wong Fei Hung, kung fu during the Qing dynasty
• Yip Man
• Zhang Sanfeng

Athletes

• Wu Qingyuan (Go Seigen), go player
• Xie Jun, chess player
• Yao Ming, NBA Basketball player, Houston Rockets

Educators

• Cai Yuanpei, chancellor
• Chang-lin Tien, chancellor

Entreprenuers

• Tung Chao Yung

Explorers

• Zheng He

Military officers and soldiers

• Guo Ziyi, Tang general
• Huang Gai
• Lin Biao
• Liu Huaqing
• Ma Chao
• Song Zhe Yuan
• Sun Ce
• Zhang Xueliang
• Zhang Zizhong
• Zhu De

See also: People of note in the PLA

Philosophers and writers

• Bai Shouyi, historian
• Chang San-feng
• Ch'ien Mu
• Confucius, philosopher
• Gao Xingjian
• Gongsun Longzi, one of the Logicians of the Warring States Period
• Hu Shih, writer
• Jin Shengtan, editor and critic
• Jinyong, novelist
• Lao She
• Lao Zi, philosopher
• Li Ao, writer
• Li Po, poet
• Lin Yutang, writer
• Lu Hao-tung
• Lu Xun, novelist
• Mao Dun, writer
• Qian Xuantong, phonetician
• Qian Zhongshu
• Qu You, Ming novelist
• Sima Qian, historiographer
• Su Dongpo, poet
• Sun Tzu, philosopher
• Tu Wei-ming, ethicist
• Wang Pi, Three Kingdoms philosopher
• Zhang Ailing, woman novelist
• Zhuang Zi, philosopher

See also: List of Chinese authors, List of Chinese language poets, List of Confucianists

Linguist

• Woo Tsin-hang, linguist
• Zhang Binglin, phonologist
• Y. R. Chao, phonologist and dialectologist

Religion

• Xuanzang, Buddhist monk
• Liang Fa, Christian preacher
• Witness Lee, Christian founder of the Local Church
• Gong Shengliang, Christian preacher

See also: List of Taoists

Scientists and engineers

• Cai Lun, inventor of paper
• David Ho, AIDS researcher
• Charles Kao, inventor of optical fiber
• I. M. Pei, architect
• An Wang, computer scientist
• Zhang Heng, astronomer, mathematician, artist and literature scholar
• Zhu Shijie, mathematician
• Zu Chongzhi, mathematician and astronomer

Others

• Ching Shih, woman pirate
• Jing Ke, assassin
• Wan Hu, would-be astronaut

Fictional Chinese people

• Charlie Chan, detective
• Kai Lung, of stories by Ernest Bramah
• Kato of Pink Panther series of films.
• Li Kao and Number Ten Ox, of novels by Barry Hughart
• Fu Manchu, criminal mastermind
  • parodied in the radio series Round the Horne as "Dr Chou En Ginsberg MA (failed)"
• Xuanzang and his disciples (including Sun Wukong and Zhu Bajie), of Journey to the West

See also

• Overseas Chinese
  • Chinese American, List
  • Chinese Canadian
  • Indonesian Chinese
  • Malaysian Chinese
  • Chinese Puerto Rican
• American-born Chinese
• Taiwanese American
• List of people by nationality