Here are some Chinese historical figures I find interesting.
10: Brilliant Chang
One of the most notorious of all Chinese historical figures was Brilliant Chang. International headlines dubbed him the “Dope King of London” – but little detail of his life is known. We know he was born into a wealthy Chinese family in the late 1800s, then in 1913 emigrated to Britain. In time he opened a series of restaurants, from which he sold drugs like opium and cocaine. Chang was suave and charming, having an easy time converting young women into users. But this would be his eventual downfall. The yellow peril was an ongoing situation, caused by newspapers in the west causing paranoia over the number of Asian immigrants of the time. Countless novels and films depicted Asians as evil predators preying on white women. In this environment, Brilliant Chang was the perfect real life villain.
The press in both Europe and North America painted him as a criminal mastermind. In America they called him the Limehouse spider, after an area in London associated with opium dens. It’s unclear if he really was a criminal mastermind though, or just a small time criminal picked up by the media. But when a customer of his died of an overdose in 1922, police began treating him like a mastermind. In 1924 he was sentenced to 14 months in prison, and in 1925 he was deported, never to be seen again. In following years a number of rumors emerged – that he became the biggest drug kingpin in Europe, or that he ran a street gang in China. But his fate is just another mystery.
9: Qin Shi Huang
Qin Shi Huang was the first emperor of China. I mentioned him in my last video, but I did not explain quite how insane he was. He was a brutal, paranoid, yet productive ruler. It was Qin Shi Huang who built the Great Wall, a project that killed more than 400 thousand workers. Their deaths were quick compared to those of his political rivals. Some were tortured slowly, some were buried alive – but eventually all his enemies were subdued. This was partly cunning strategy, and partly just that he was unstable. At one point he had an entire forest cut down because he decided the god protecting it was a dick.
But I think the most funny part was his goal of avoiding death. The man spent decades trying to become immortal, spending a fortune on court alchemists. They gave him drinks brewed with mercury, a substance highly toxic to humans. He also sent expeditions overseas to find a mythical island known as Penglai. He believed immortal being lived atop a mountain there, and could teach him how to never die. But spoiler alive, he did die, and is now most famous for his burial tomb, within which his corpse is guarded by Terracotta soldiers.
8: Puyi
As you’d expect, the last emperor was also one of the most influential Chinese historical figures. He was just 6 when the imperial dynasty was overthrown by a revolt, having been emperor for 2 years. Luckily he was allowed to remain in the palace for another 12 years and lived a life of luxury. But China was a mess at the time, and in 1917 a rebellion briefly restored him to power. This only lasted for 2 weeks though, and it was decided he should get lost. If we’re being honest he was a bit of a loser, unsuccessfully trying to ally himself with warlords.
But then opportunity stuck when Japan invaded China. They set up a puppet state in the mineral rich region of Manchuria, declared it independent of China, and named him king. Puyi hoped this would be a stepping stone to becoming emperor of all China. But even they eventually decided he was a creepy weirdo. After the war, he was captured by the Soviets, which was not a stroke of luck. But after 5 years in prison, he was turned over to the Chinese communists, who surprisingly set him free. Puyi died in 1967, the last of a 2 thousand year old royal dynasty.
7: Zheng He
Zheng He is one of history’s greatest explorers, but so many have never heard of him. Raised as a court eunuch, he eventually became a respected admiral. Going into the 1400s, China’s emperor wanted to expand his influence abroad – so he ordered a fleet of ships built. Then he made Zheng He it’s commander and sent him on seven expeditions. The ships were loaded with men and gold, hence why it is known as the Ming treasure voyage. Under Zheng He’s leadership they traveler far and wide, from Indonesia to East Africa, and almost everywhere in between. On the way they battled pirates and went to war with the king of Ceylon. They established new trade routes, and became legends back in China.
According to tradition, some of his ships had four decks, and held hundreds of men. It’s also thought some of his men stayed behind in Africa and the middle east, where many of their descendants now live. Zheng deliberately avoided settling in these foreign lands, but it sounds like China came pretty close to having a colonial empire.
6: Jiang Qing
Jiang Qing was the wife of Chairman Mao, and so she is better known as Madame Mao. Cunning and intelligent, she leveraged her position to get revenge on anyone who ever offended her. She began as an actress, but grew bitter at her lack of success. She was driven primarily by a need to achieve fame and power, and would do anything to get it. In other words she was just like any other actress. As Mao’s wife, she had a route to it, and as Mao’s cult of personality grew, her influence in society did also.
Many in the media industry were purged on her order. Even high ranking communist party members feared her, as she was revered by millions of young people. They were the target of her propaganda films, and the driving force in China’s violent cultural revolution, a large revolt that killed up to 2 million people. Then after Mao died, she was a key player in the ensuing power struggle. For a moment it seemed like she would win. But she was so scary, and moderates in the party unified against her. In the end she was sent to an underground prison, and after four years, hanged herself. A sad end for sure. But don’t forget she was briefly one of the most powerful Chinese historical figures of all.
5: Hong Xiuquan
The greatest rebellion in history was led by Hong Xiuquan, a man who was either hilarious or insane. Born in 1814, he tried and failed to pass the infamous imperial examination, a test taken by all wishing to become a civil servant in imperial China. After failing it four times, he was furious. Years of hard work had all been for nothing, and now he faced a life of no opportunity. When I was in a situation like that I started making videos, but he tried a different tactic. In 1843, he claimed to have been visited by god, who told Hong he was the younger brother of Jesus.
For some reason, a lot of people believed him, and he kicked off a rebellion to overthrow the Chinese government, which he saw as satanic. In time he established the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, a rapidly expanding Christian state that eventually had a population of 30 million. But imperial China had a population of around 400 million, a long with a well regulated military and fancy hats. It was only a matter of time until the Taiping Heavenly kingdom fell. In the end, at least 20 million people died, making it one of the deadliest conflicts in history, all because some guy failed an exam.
4: Sai Wing Mock
Sai Wing Mock sounds like a fake name made up by a racist, but don’t worry, he was also known as Mock Duck. Mock Duck was a notorious gangster in early 1900s New York. Chinese gangs at the time were known as Tongs, and constantly fought over control of the Manhattan Chinatown. Whoever held it stood to make a fortune from the opium dens and pleasure houses. Many Tongs were supported by warlords in China, receiving weapons and funds from overseas. The Tong led by Mock Duck was an upstart, who began the wa to take on the Hip Sing, the long established gang protected by police.
His men wore fedoras and carried hatchets, making it known they were not afraid to behead their rivals. Mock Duck also wore a chain-mail vest. Many attempts were made on his life, and the press called him China town’s mayor. But somehow he was able to survive the Tong War. For decades more and more bodied piled up, until the Chinese and US government pressured the various Tongs to make peace. It might feel a little much to include him on a list of influential Chinese historical figures, but it’s my list and I find him interesting.
3: Zheng Yi Sao
With it’s long coastline, China has a long history of piracy – and the most infamous Chinese pirate of all was Zheng Yi Sao. In the early 1800s, she led a fleet of 400 ships, commanding a force of around 50 thousand pirates. This meant she commanded one of the world’s largest navies, and considering she was a criminal, that was bad news for everyone else at sea. But they did not always kill and plunder – most of the time they simply taxed any merchant ship wishing to pass through pirate territory. And with so many ships, the emperor couldn’t really do much to stop it.
In the end China had to request help from the British and Portuguese navies, and together they gradually tore into the pirate fleet. Even when that happened, she only surrendered on the condition of amnesty and a generous pension from the Chinese government.
2: Chiang Kai Shek
Chiang Kai Shek was like a Chinese forrest gump. He led the nationalist side during the Chinese Civil War. With a massive standing army, he very nearly crushed the communist side. For a decade he was the de facto ruler of China. But when Japan invaded, he joined forces with Mao to defend the homeland. But while Chiang Kai Shek fought the Japanese in head on, costly battles, Mao opted for guerrilla attacks. By the wars end, the nationalist side was exhausted, and Mao had quietly been preparing to move against them. In 1949 Chiang Kai Shek admitted defeat. Realizing all was lost, he took his army to the island of Taiwan. There, he established a new nation, setting himself up as dictator and massacring any native islander who objected.
Chiang Kai Shek was a brutal and effective ruler, being president of the island until the day of his death in 1975. That was just one year before Mao died also, and in that time, Taiwan had been transformed. In what is known as the White Terror, natives lived in fear and 140 thousand people were imprisoned. But Chiang also led Taiwan to become a serious economic and technological power, so it’s been a pretty wild ride for that small island.
1: Sun Tsu
Sun Tzu is the famous Chinese general behind the art of war, a highly influential book on military strategy. As such, he remains atop my list of Chinese historical figures. The problem is though, he might not have even existed. According to tradition, he lived around 500 BC, a period that saw multiple Chinese warring kingdoms. He was the military commander of Wu, leading it to defeat the much larger Chu state. Then he wrote the art of war, and seems to have disappeared. And so he went down as a great general. But just like with your dad, a lot of people question if Sun Tzu even existed. Little evidence is out there, and while the art of war was clearly written by someone, their name may have been lost to history.