- Xuanzang
Xuanzang (was a famous Chinese Buddhist monk, scholar, traveler and translator that brought up the interaction between China and India in the early Tang period. Xuanzang was born near Luoyang, Henan in 602? as Chén Huī or Chén Yī (陳 褘) and died 5th Feb. 664 in Yu Hua Gong (玉華宮). He became famous for his seventeen year trip to India, during which he studied with many famous Buddhist masters, …
- Faxian
Faxian (also romanized as "Fa-Hien" or "Fa-hsien") (ca. 337 - ca. 422) was a Chinese Buddhist monk, who, between 399 and 412 travelled to India and Sri Lanka to bring Buddhist scriptures. His journey is described in his work "A Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms, Being an Account by the Chinese Monk Fa-Hien of his Travels in India and Ceylon in Search of the Buddhist Books of Discipline".
- Hu Yaobang
Hu Yaobang (Chinese: 胡耀邦 Pinyin: Hú Yàobāng, Wade-Giles: Hu Yao-pang; November 20, 1915-April 15, 1989) was a leader of the People's Republic of China. His death in 1989 triggered a series of events which eventually led to the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989.
- Jing Ke
Jing Ke was a guest residing in the estates of Dan, crown prince of Yan and renowned for his failed assassination of the Chinese emperor Qin Shi Huang who reigned from 221 BC to 210 BC. His story is told in the chapter entitled "Biography of the Assassins" (刺客列傳) in Sima Qian's "Records of the Grand Historian", or "Shiji". Jing Ke and was introduced by Tian Guang to Dan the crown prince of Yan. Jing Ke was originally from Wei (衛, not 魏), …
- Qu Yuan
Qu Yuan (ca. 340 BC - 278 BC) was a Chinese patriotic poet from southern Chu during the Warring States Period. His works are mostly found in an anthology of poetry known as "Chu Ci". His death is commemorated on Duan Wu or Tuen Ng Festival (端午节/端午節), commonly known as the Dragon Boat Festival in the West.
- Ronglu
Ronglu (荣禄, April 6, 1836- April 11, 1903) was a Manchu statesman during the late Qing dynasty. Ronglu hailed from the Gûwalgiya clan and belonged to the Plain White Banner in the Eight Banners. He served in a number of important positions in the Qing government, including the Zongli Yamen and the Grand Council. Ronglu was a close ally of the Empress Dowager and opposed Kang Youwei's Hundred Days' Reform in 1898.
- Wang Xizhi
Wang Xizhi was a Chinese calligrapher, traditionally referred to as the Sage of Calligraphy (書聖). Born in Linyi, Shandong, he spent most of his life in the present-day Shaoxing, Zhejiang. He learned the art of calligraphy from Wei Shuo. He excelled in every script but particularly in the semi-cursive script. Unfortunately, none of his original works remains today. His most famous work is the "Preface to the Poems Composed at the Orchid Pavilion", …
- Chung Keng Quee
The Second Larut War took place in 1865 and was sparked off by a gambling quarrel in June of that year between members of the two opposing secret societies. According to Parkinson in his book British Intervention in Malaya 1867-1877 the "Hysan or Tokong" leader in Penang was "Chan Keng Kwi", with "Lew Ah Sam" as leader in Larut. The Hai San members took 14 Ghee Hin as prisoners, 13 of whom were killed.
- Gao Jianli
Gao Jianli was a citizen of Yan, a Chinese state during the Warring States Period, and a player of the "zhu" (a stringed musical instrument played with a thin stick). After Jing Ke was killed in his assassination attempt on Qin Shi Huang, Gao changed his name and became an assistant in a wine shop as Qin Shi Huang retaliated against all friends of Jing Ke. As the work is very hard, …
- Tan Kim Ching
Kapitan Tan Kim Ching, J.P., (1829 - Feb 1892)<br /> <br /> Tan Kim Ching the eldest of the three sons of Tan Tock Seng, the founder and financier of Tan Tock Seng Hospital (1844), was consul for Japan, Thailand and Russia, was a member of the Royal Court of Siam, was one of Singapore’s leading Chinese merchants and was one of its richest men at that time. He was also the first Asian member of the Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society.
- Yuan Chonghuan
Yuan Chonghuan was a famed patriot and military commander of the Ming Dynasty who battled the Manchus in Liaoning. He was known to have excelled in artillery warfare and successfully incorporated western tactics into the East. Yuan's military career reached its height when he defeated Nurhaci and the Manchurian army in the first Battle of Ningyuan. Nurhaci's son and successor, Huang Taiji, was defeated by him in the second Battle of Ningyuan.
- Giocangga
Giocangga was the grandfather of Nurhaci, the man who was to unify the Jurchen peoples and begin building the Manchu state. Both he and his son Taksi went to the aid of Nurhaci's uncle Atai whose city was being besieged by a rival Jurchen cheiftan Nikan Wailan, who promised the governance of the city to whoever would kill Atai, one of Atai's underlings rebelled and murdered him.
- Li Bing
Li Bing (李冰) was a Qin civil/military official who became a cultural and mythological icon. Culturally, he is seen as a great civil administrator and water conservancy expert. Mythologically, he is known as the conqueror of the River God and compared to the Great Yu.
- Cai Xiang
Cai Xiang (born in Xianyou, Fujian in 1012, died in Xianyou 1067) is a Chinese calligrapher, scholar, official, architectural engineer, and poet. Style name Junmuo, posthumous name Zhonghuei Born in Song dynasty Xiangfu reign (1012 AD) in Xianyiu county of Xinghua prefecture (Now Xianyiu county in Putian city of Fujian province). In Tiansheng the eighth year (1030 AD) Cai Xiang obtain the degree of jinshi.
- Du Yuesheng
Du Yuesheng, commonly known as "Big-Eared Du", (1887-1951) was a gangster who spent most of his life in Shanghai, China. He involved his gang in the conflict between the Communists and Nationalists, eventually going into exile in Hong Kong prior to his death in 1951. He joined the Green Gang, the most powerful secret society in Shanghai, and eventually made his way to the top as the ringleader of the gang.
- Zheng Guo
Zheng Guo or Cheng Kuo (鄭國) was a hydraulic engineer from the ancient Chinese kingdom of Han who designed the Zhengguo Canal in the kingdom of Qin during the Warring States Period. The canal remains to this day, despite having been constructed in the third century BC. The canal was originally designed as a method to trick the ruler of Qin so that Qin could not expand to the east.
- Chung Thye Phin
Kapitan Chung, Thye Phin, MSC, JP (1879 - 1935) was a wealthy Chinese tin miner who was raised on the island of Penang in the state of the same name in Malaysia, known at that time as British Malaya. He was a member of the Perak Advisory Board and the last "Kapitan China" of Perak and Malaya.
- Fan Li
Fan Li (范蠡) was an advisor in the state of Yue in the Spring and Autumn Period. He had been to the state of Wu as hostage with King Gou Jian of Yue. Three years later they came back and he helped Gou Jian to carry on a reform. At last Yue was able to defeat the state of Wu. After the victory he resigned and renamed himself Tao Zhu Gong. He became a successful businessman in his later years and was famous as a rich person.
- Xiang Yu
Xiang Yu was a prominent general during the fall of the Qin Dynasty. His name was Ji (籍), Yu was his courtesy name. He was a descendant of Chu nobility. A great general, it took him only several years to put a giant empire effectively at his whim - but he was poor at diplomacy and administrative affairs. He is traditionally viewed as having an impetuous nature by Chinese culture, and that further inability to realize his shortcomings doomed him to failure.
- Wu Zixu
Wu Zixu, also known as Wu Yuan, is the most famous ancestor of people with the surname of Wu, (names are in simplified characters followed by traditional and Pinyin transliteration). All branches of the Wu clans claim him as their "first ancestor." He lived in the Spring and Autumn era (722 BC - 481 BC) of Chinese history.
- Wu Peifu
Wu Peifu or Wu P'ei-fu, was a major figure in the struggles between the warlords who dominated Republican China from 1916 to 1927. Born in Shandong Province in Eastern China, Wu initially received a traditional Chinese education. He later joined the Baoding Military Academy (保定軍校) in Beijing and embarked on a career as a professional soldier. His talents as an officer were recognized by his superiors, and he rose quickly in the ranks.
- Huang Zongxi
Huang Zongxi was the name of a Chinese political theorist, philosopher, and soldier during the latter part of the Ming dynasty into the early part the Qing.
- Seow Sieu Jin
Seow Sieu Jin (23 Jan 1907 - 13 Jul 1958) was a prominent and successful Singaporean banker brought up in a banking family, trained in China and England and was an important contributor to the growth and development of the Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC) during its early years. Seow Sieu Jin's great-grandfather was from Jinjiang, China and his grandparents from Malacca but his father, Seow Poh Leng and mother Lilian Tan Lark Neo (also spelt Tan Luck Neo), …
- Qin Wuyang
Qin Wuyang was a young man who followed Jing Ke when the latter went on the mission to assassinate Ying Zheng, the king of Qin. Both Jing and Qin were first disguised as envoys from Yan and were there to present the severed head of "Fan Yuqi", a Qin turncoat, and a map of Dukang. However, Qin Wuyang started sweating profusely and shivered due to nervousness and this aroused Ying Zheng's suspicion when he saw the young man.
- Seow Poh Leng
SEOW Poh Leng (1883 - 1942) was a prominent and successful Singaporean banker, founding member of the Ho Hong Bank, famous philantrophist and benefactor of public development works.
- Ma Jianzhong
Ma Jianzhong was a Chinese official and scholar during the Qing dynasty. Ma was born in Dantu (丹徒), Jiangsu province to a prominent Chinese Catholic family. After studies at a French Catholic school in Shanghai, Ma went to France in 1876 to study international law. He became the first Chinese to obtain a baccalauréat and in 1879 he obtained a diploma in law ("licence de droit") from École Libre des Sciences Politiques in Paris.
- Huang Chao
Huang Chao was the leader of infamous Huang Chao Rebellion (875~884) in China that seriously weakened the once mighty Tang Dynasty of China. The dynasty, which was one of the strongest nations in the history of the world, was dissolved into the several decades of civil war called Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period.
- Sun Chuanfang
Sun Chuanfang aka the "Nanking Warlord" or leader of the "League of Five Provinces" was a Zhili clique warlord and protege of the "Jade Marshal" Wu Peifu (1874-1939). He was given command of Zhejiang in 1924. By the next two years he expanded his rule to Jiangsu, Fujian, Anhui, and Jiangxi. He set his headquarters in Nanjing.
- Wang Jialie
Wang Jialie (王家烈) Chairmen of the Guizhou government Nov 1931 - May 1935, and he continously resisted Chiang Kai-shek's attempt to unify China under his central government. One of Wang's most notorious and successful attempt occurred during Chiang's first attempt to spread his power to Guizhou by establishing Kuomintang party memberships in Guizhou that was previously non-existent.
- Hong Rengan
Hong Rengan was an important leader of the Taiping Rebellion. He was the cousin of the movement's founder and spiritual leader Hong Xiuquan. His position as the Prince Gan (干王) resembled the role of a Prime Minister. He is a noted figure in history because of the sweeping reforms attempted under his rule, and because of his popularity in the West. When Hung Xiuquan called for his cousin Hong Rengan to come to Nanjing to help him rule, …
- Liu Sheng
Liu Sheng was a Chinese prince of the Han dynasty. He reigned from 157 BC to 141 BC. His father was Emperor Jing. He died before his wife and was interred in a mound 95 miles from Beijing, in Hebei. His tomb was unearthed during construction in 1968. The total space of the tomb is about 2,700 cubic metres, and vaguely resembles a human body.
- Cai E
Cai E or Tsai Ao was a Chinese revolutionary leader and warlord. He was born Cai Genyin (蔡艮寅 "Cài Gěnyín") in Shaoyang, Hunan Province and his courtesy name was Songpo (松坡 "Sōngpō"). In 1898, Cai entered Shiwu School, where he learned from Liang Qichao. He later went to Japan to study in 1899. Cai returned to China in 1900.
- Xiao He
Xiao He was a key figure in Liu Bang's rise to power after the fall of the Qin Dynasty.He remained loyal to Liu Bang throughout his life and later became prime minister of the Han Dynasty. He was born in the same place, Pei County (in modern Xuzhou, Jiangsu) as Liu Bang. Based on his contributions during the Chu Han Contention and administering the empire, he is generally considered one of the greatest statesmen in Chinese history.
- Gang Bing
Gang Bing was a Chinese general and eunuch who served under Emperor Yongle of the Ming Dynasty.
- Wang Fuzhi
Wang Fuzhi, styled Chuanshan, also known as Wang Fu-zi or Wang Zi (1619-1692) was a Chinese philosopher of the late Ming, early Qing dynasties.
- Tang Jiyao
Tang Jiyao was a Chinese general and warlord of Yunnan during the Warlord Era of Republican China. Tang was born in Huize county(會澤縣) in 1883 in nowadays Qujing, Yunnan province. He became a revolutionary warrior in southwestern China after he finished his military studies in Japan. When Yuan Shikai proclaimed himself as the emperor of China in the December of 1915, Tang announced the independence of Yunnan with Cai E, Li Jiejun and etc.
- Du Xian
Du Xian 杜暹 was a jiedushi and chancellor of Tang China. He was famous for opposing corruption inside the court.
- King Zhuang Of Chu
King Zhuāng of Chu was leader in the state of Chu in the Spring and Autumn Period of Chinese history. His name was Mi Lǚ (羋侶). He took his throne in 613 BC. When he ascended the throne the Kingdom of Chu was in disarray. For the first three years of his kingship, Zhuang wasted time, hunted excessively and partied lavishly.
- Wen Zhong
Wen Zhong was an advisor in the state of Yue in the Spring and Autumn Period. He was a native of Ying (today Jingzhou, Hubei Province). After Yue was defeated in 494 BC, he corrupted Bo Pi in order to make peace with the state of Wu. During King Gou Jian of Yue was in Wu as hostage, he governed Yue. Gou Jian started a reform after his coming back. After the decisive victory against Wu, he was killed by his King Gou Jian, …
- Li Jingfang
Li Jingfang, also known as Li Ching-fong, was a Chinese statesman during the Qing dynasty. Being the nephew and adopted son of the late statesman Li Hongzhang, he served in his adoptive father's secretariat in his youth. In 1882, Li Jingfang obtained the second highest degree in the imperial examinations and subsequently obtained appointment in the Qing foreign service because of his knowledge of English.