List of 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.

Rulers and politicians

Imperial times

• Aixinjueluo Puyi, the last emperor
• Cao family
  • Cao Cao
  • Cao Fang
  • Cao Huan
  • Cao Mao
  • Cao Pi
  • Cao Ren
  • Cao Rui
  • Cao Zhang
  • Cao Zhi
• Empress Dowager Cixi, Qing dynasty de facto leader
• Dong Zhuo, Han dynasty general
• Dou Xian
• Gao Lishi, Tang, corrupt
• Guo Jia, Kingdom of Wei strategist
• Emperor Gao of Han China
• Hongwu Emperor of China
• Hong Tianguifu, king of Taiping
• Hong Xiuquan, king of Taiping
• Hua Xiong
• Huang Chenyan
• Kangxi Emperor of China, Emperor of the Qing Dynasty
• Kublai Khan
• Li Hongzhang, Qing statesman
• Li Houzhu, Southern Tang ruler and poet
• Li Zicheng, Ming rebel leader
• Lin Zexu, Qing official
• Liu Bei, founder of Kingdom of Shu
• Liu Chan, Kingdom of Shu emperor
• Lu Su, Kingdom of Wu advisor
• Empress Dowager Lü of Han Empire
• Pang Tong
• Qianlong Emperor of China, Emperor of the Qing Dynasty
• Qin Shi Huangdi, first emperor
• Sima Guang
• Sima Lun
• Sun Quan, founder of Kingdom of Wu
• Emperor Tang Taizong of China
• Wang An-shih
• Wei Yan
• Wu Zetian, Empress of China
• Xu Shu
• Yan Song, corrupt prime minister
• Yang Guozhong, Tang official by guanxi
• Yongle Emperor of China
• Zhang Zhao
• Zheng Chenggong
• Zhuge Liang, Han dynasty strategist
• Zuo Zongtang, known as General Tso in the West

See also: Chinese sovereign, Table of Chinese monarchs

Warlords

• Chang Hsueh-liang
• Feng Yü-hsiang
• Wang Jingwei
• Yuan Shikai

Communists

• Chen Duxiu
• Deng Xiaoping family
  • Deng Xiaoping
  • Zhuo Lin
  • Deng Nan
  • Deng Pufang
• 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
• Li Xiannian, PRC president
• Liu Shaoqi
• Mao Zedong
• Tung Chee Hwa
• Wen Jiabao
• Wu Yi
• Xie Fuzhi
• Yang Shangkun, PRC president
• Zhao Ziyang
• Zhou Enlai
• Zhu Rongji

Nationalists

• Chen Cheng
• Chiang Ching-Kuo
• Chiang Fang-liang
• Chiang Kai-shek
• H. H. Kung
• Lu Muzhen
• Qiu Jin, female revolutionary
• Soong family
  • Charlie Soong
  • T. V. Soong
  • Soong sisters
    • Soong Ai-ling
    • Soong Ching-ling
    • Soong May-ling
• Sun Yat-sen
• Sung Chiao-jen
• Yen Chia-kan
• Yen Hsi-shan

Current Taiwanese politicians

• John Chang
• Chen Shui-bian
• Chu Mei-feng
• Lee Teng-hui
• Lien Chan
• Annette Lu
• Ma Ying-jeou
• James Soong
• Su Tseng-chang
• Wang Chien-shien

Dissidents

• Wuer Kaixi
• Li Lu

Non-politician royalties

• Yang Guifei, emperor's consort
• Concubine Qi
• Xishi, melancholy beauty

Artists and perfomers

Painters and calligraphers

• Fu Baoshi
• Qi Baishi
• Wang Xizhi, calligrapher
• Wei Shuo, female calligrapher
• Xu Peiheng
• Xue Wei, painter

Actors and actresses

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

Film-makers

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

See also: Cinema of China

Singers

• Roman Tam
• Faye Wong
• Jay Chow

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

• Ding Junhui, snooker player
• Fu Mingxia, diver
• Ma Jian, basketball player
• Sun Wen, woman footballer
• Wu Qingyuan (Go Seigen), go player
• Xie Jun, chess player
• Xu Jun, chess player
• Yao Ming, NBA Basketball player, Houston Rockets
• Ye Jiangchuan, chess player
• Wang Zhizhi, NBA basketball player
• Zhang Zhong, chess player

Educators

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

Business tycoons

Taiwan:

• Tsai Wan Lin
• Wang Yung-ching
• Terry Gou
• Koo Chen-fu
• John Tu and David Sun, cofounders of Kingston Technologies

Hong Kong:

• Li family
  • Li Ka-shing
  • Victor Li
  • Richard Li
• Walter Kwok
• Thomas Kwok
• Raymond Kwok
• Lee Shau Kee
• Michael Kadoorie
• Nina Wang
• Patrick Wang
• Cheng Yu-tung
• Stanley Ho
• Chen Din Hwa
• Henry Fok
• Tung Chao Yung
• Teddy Wang
• Wang Din-shin

Explorers

• Zheng He
• Xu Xiake

Military officers and soldiers

• Chen Yi
• Guo Ziyi, Tang general
• Five Tiger Generals (Kingdom of Shu):
  • Guan Yu
  • Huang Zhong
  • Ma Chao
  • Zhang Fei
  • Zhao Yun
• Huang Gai
• Jiang Wei, Kingdom of Shu general
• Le Jin
• Liao Hua
• Lin Biao
• Liu Huaqing
• Lu Yi
• Ma Su
• Sima Yi
• Sima Zhao
• Song Zheyuan
• Sun Ce
• Wuqiu Jian
• Yuan Shao
• Xu Shouhui, Yuan dynasty rebel leader
• Zhang He
• Zhang Liao
• Zhang Xueliang
• Zhang Zizhong
• Zhou Yu
• 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
• Kang Youwei
• Lao She
• Lao Zi, philosopher
• Li Ao, writer
• Li Po, poet
• Liang Ch'i-ch'ao
• Lin Yutang, writer
• Lu Hao-tung
• Lu Xun, novelist
• Mao Dun, writer
• Mo Zi, philosopher
• Mencius, philosopher
• Pai Hsien-yung, 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
• Xun Zi, 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

• Bi Sheng, inventor of clay print-blocks
• Cai Lun, inventor of paper
• David Ho, AIDS researcher
• Charles Kao, inventor of optical fiber
• Yuan T. Lee, Nobel laureate in chemistry
• Liang Sicheng, architect and eldest son of Liang Ch'i-ch'ao
• I. M. Pei, architect
• Qian Sanqiang, nuclear physicist
• Tsien Hsue-shen, rocket scientist
• An Wang, computer scientist
• Wang Zhen, inventor of wooden print-blocks
• Yang Liwei, astronaut
• 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
• Fu Hsi, mythical first emperor of China
• Fu Manchu, criminal mastermind
  • parodied in the radio series Round the Horne as "Dr Chou En Ginsberg MA (failed)"
• 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
• Nüwa, mother goddess of Chinese mythology
• 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