1. those who started a new chapter of history

• earliest to unite the chinese people, huangdi
• the gentleman king who kicked off the western zhou, ji fa/wu of zhou
• the emperor to unite six kingdoms, ying zheng/qin shihuang
• from a delinquent to a founding emperor, liu che/wu of han
• ruler of zhenguan, li shimin/tang taizong
• the first female emperor in history, wu zetian
• the model of a humanist king, zhao kuangyin/song taizu
• rebel hero, zhu yuanzhang/hongwu emperor
• the country's father, sun yat-sen
• creator of the prc, mao zedong
• strategist of the revolution, deng xiaoping

2. pivotal kings and emperors who earned a name for themselves

• the creator of scholarly freedom, king xuan of qi/tian bijiang
• he who promoted hu attire and horseback shooting, wuling of zhao/zhao yong
• hero of a tumultous world, cao cao
• flexible scholar, sun quan
• he who promoted han culture and ethnic mixing, wei xiaowen/yuan hong
• he produced a high point in farming civilisation, wen of sui/yang jian
• he who expanded china, hubilie/kublai khan

3. magnificent women in a patriarchal society

• the empress who was wild at heart but stable in her position, lv zhi
• the maid with an imposing style, feng liao
• a shining concubine who thought of her hometown too, wang zhaojun
• the female poet whose talents ended an era, shangguan wang'er
• is it true that the crab apple tree is still there? li qingzhao
• her headdress stands in the way of a beard, qin liangyu
• she started the prelude to the flourishing age of qing, empress xiaozhuangwen
• 'fighting in anger for the blushing one', chen yuanyuan

4. earliest cultural figures in a ritualistic state

• originator of chinese writing, cangjie
• the zhou duke who created an era of ceremonial music, ji dan
• creator of daoism, laozi/li er
• writing under kongzi, the ultimate master, confucius/kong qiu
• the master of warcraft, sun tze
• eminent confucian philosopher and sage, mencius
• the first materialist thinker to doubt confucius, wang chong
• he who dreamt of a butterfly, zhuang zhou
• materialist philosopher who conquered the heavens, xun kuang
• great compiler of legalist teachings, han fei
• he who created the three principles and five virtues, dong zhongshu

5. masters of the arts

• great patriotic poet, qu yuan
• he whose shadow makes three, li bai
• 'achieve this and let the world know', du fu
• greatest of the eight tang and song masters, han yu
• master of bold poetry, su shi
• chinese literary sage, wang xizhi
• yuan master playwright, guan hanqing
• a dream in the red chamber, who could understand its meaning? cao xueqin
• flagbearer of new chinese literature, lu xun

6. historians

• a life devoted to the shiji, sima qian
• cataloguer of literature, liu xiang
• foundational historian of ancient government, du you
• compiler of the zizhi tongjian, sima guang
• university scholar with an iron bite, ji yun
• representative who promoted country-saving industry, zhang jian
• modern metereologist and pedagogue, chu coching
• foundational new historian, liang qichao
• recent master historian, guo moruo

7. those who taught us to think for ourselves

• founder of traditional mathematical logic, liu hui
• the scientist who became known outside of china, zu chongzhi
• he who traced a road from changan to tianzhu, tang xuanzang
• sixth patriarch of chinese buddhism, huineng
• objectivist logician, zhu xi
• founding father of the gelug school of buddhism, je tsongkhapa
• master of idealism, wang yangming
• first recipient of western education, xu guangqing
• the thinker who found truth towards the west, yan fu
• late qing reformer, kang youwei
• he who ended classical philosophy, wang fuzhi
• class reform scholar, hu shi
• with a piercing heart, and no power to recall, tan sitong

8. those who made great contributions to industry and agriculture

• he passed three times over the threshold but did not enter, yu the great
• founding master of chinese carpentry, lu ban
• ingenious snatcher of water, li bing
• investigator of the western regions, zhang qian
• left an impression on civilisation with the development of printing, cai lun
• the scientist who discovered the essence of astronomy by studying the ground, zhang heng
• sage of chinese medicine, zhang zhongjing
• designer of moveable type, bi sheng
• populariser of cotton weaving technology, huang daopo
• eminent agricultural scientist, jia sixie
• navigator of the seven seas, zheng he
• outstanding scholar of materia medica, li shizhen
• father of hybrid rice, yuan longping

9. wartime heroes

• heavenly rider of a generation, genghis khan
• loyalty and courage as a person, guan yu
• heroic national messenger, yue fei
• made his name by fighting pirates, qi jiguang
• hero of taiwan, koxinga
• anti-opium hero with a global outlook, lin zexu
• calmed the warlords and united a country, chiang kai-shek
• zhang xueliang

10.'housekeepers' of the country

• earliest economic reformist, guan zhong
• the reformist who rewarded agriculture and battle for a rich, strong country, shang yang
• the hero who dared to revolt against the world, chen sheng
• wisdom embodied, zhuge liang
• the reformist who created two means of taxation, yang yan
• a blue sky inside an envelope, bao zheng
• reformist who first managed the government finances, wang an-shi
• ming/qing enlightenment thinker, huang zongxi
• the kingdom will rise and fall, due to the responsibilities of ordinary men, gu yanwu
• the official who managed recent westernisation, li hongzhang