Question 1

Who are the most famous Chinese people in history?

Accepted Answer

The names every Chinese child knows: the thinker 孔子 (Kǒngzǐ), Confucius; 秦始皇 (Qín Shǐhuáng), the first emperor; 武则天 (Wǔ Zétiān), the only woman to rule as emperor; the strategist 诸葛亮 (Zhūgě Liàng); the poets 李白 (Lǐ Bái) and 杜甫 (Dù Fǔ); the admiral 郑和 (Zhèng Hé); and 孙中山 (Sūn Zhōngshān), Sun Yat-sen, founder of the Republic of China.

Question 2

Who are the most famous Chinese poets?

Accepted Answer

李白 (Lǐ Bái) and 杜甫 (Dù Fǔ) of the Tang dynasty, the golden age of Chinese poetry, are the best known; then 王维 (Wáng Wéi), 白居易 (Bái Jūyì) and 孟浩然 (Mèng Hàorán), also Tang, 苏轼 (Sū Shì) of the Song, the best-known woman poet 李清照 (Lǐ Qīngzhào), and 屈原 (Qū Yuán), whose death the Dragon Boat Festival remembers. A poet is a 诗人 (shīrén).

Question 3

Who are the most famous Chinese writers?

Accepted Answer

The four great classical novels were written by 罗贯中 (Luó Guànzhōng), Romance of the Three Kingdoms, 施耐庵 (Shī Nài’ān), Water Margin, 吴承恩 (Wú Chéng’ēn), Journey to the West, and 曹雪芹 (Cáo Xuěqín), Dream of the Red Chamber. 鲁迅 (Lǔ Xùn) is the father of modern Chinese writing, 金庸 (Jīn Yōng) the master of kung fu novels, and 莫言 (Mò Yán) won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2012.

Question 4

Who were the four beauties of ancient China?

Accepted Answer

四大美女 (sì dà měinǚ): 西施 (Xīshī), so lovely the fish forgot to swim and sank; 王昭君 (Wáng Zhāojūn), at whom the geese forgot to fly; 貂蝉 (Diāochán), who made the moon hide; and 杨贵妃 (Yáng Guìfēi), who put the flowers to shame. Together they give the saying 沉鱼落雁，闭月羞花, for a woman of stunning beauty.

Question 5

Which Chinese scientists won a Nobel Prize?

Accepted Answer

屠呦呦 (Tú Yōuyōu) won the 2015 Nobel Prize in Medicine for artemisinin, a malaria drug she found in an old Chinese remedy, and 杨振宁 (Yáng Zhènníng), Chen-Ning Yang, shared the 1957 Physics prize. 袁隆平 (Yuán Lóngpíng), the father of hybrid rice, and 钱学森 (Qián Xuésēn), father of China’s rockets, are household names too.

Question 6

Why is Confucius not called Kongzi in English?

Accepted Answer

Jesuit missionaries in the 16th century turned 孔夫子 (Kǒng Fūzǐ), Master Kong, into the Latin Confucius, and 孟子 (Mèngzǐ) into Mencius. In Chinese he is just 孔子 (Kǒngzǐ). Later names were spelled from Cantonese or the person’s own choice, so Sun Yat-sen is 孙中山 (Sūn Zhōngshān) in Mandarin and Bruce Lee is 李小龙 (Lǐ Xiǎolóng).

Question 7

Can’t hear it?

Accepted Answer

Play uses your device’s Mandarin voice. Edge, Chrome and Safari have one; a browser with none plays each character in our recorded voice instead.

	In Chinese	Why
Confucius	孔子 Kǒngzǐ	Latin, made by Jesuit missionaries from 孔夫子, Master Kong
Mencius	孟子 Mèngzǐ	Latin too, for Master Meng
Laozi	老子 Lǎozǐ	A title, the Old Master, not a name
Sun Yat-sen	孙中山 Sūn Zhōngshān	Cantonese for 孙逸仙, another of his names
Bruce Lee	李小龙 Lǐ Xiǎolóng	His screen name, Little Dragon Lee
Jackie Chan	成龙 Chéng Lóng	His screen name, become a dragon
Eileen Chang	张爱玲 Zhāng Àilíng	爱玲 was chosen to sound like Eileen
Pony Ma	马化腾 Mǎ Huàténg	His surname 马 means horse

Famous Chinese people

Why their English names look different

Thinkers

Emperors and empresses

Heroes and travellers

The four beauties

Poets

Writers

Artists and musicians

Scientists

Modern history

Film and music stars

Sport and business

Words for the famous