Fu Xi or Fu Hsi of the San Huang Dynasty, was the first of the mythical Three Sovereigns of ancient China. He is a culture hero reputed to be the inventor of writing, fishing, and trapping. The Yi Jing (or Zhou Yi; Wade-Giles I Ching) is...

The Yellow Emperor or Huang Di is a legendary Chinese sovereign and cultural hero who is said to be the ancestor of all Han Chinese. One of the Five Emperors, the Yellow Emperor is said by tradition to have reigned from 2698 BCE to 2599...

Yu the Great (c. 2200-2100 BC), was a legendary ruler in ancient China famed for his introduction of flood control, inaugurating dynastic rule in China by founding the Xia Dynasty, and for his upright moral character. The dates proposed...

Cheng Yang of the Shang, Chinese Emperor, said to have reigned BC 1766. The Shang Dynasty or Yin Dynasty (1600 BC-1046 BC) is the first confirmed historic Chinese dynasty and ruled in the northeastern region of China proper. The Shang dynas...

The Duke of Zhou was a member of the Zhou Dynasty who played a major role in consolidating the kingdom established by his elder brother King Wu. He was renowned in Chinese history for acting as a capable and loyal regent for his young nephe...

Laozi (also Lao-Tzu or Lao-Tze, literally "Old Master") was an ancient Chinese philosopher and writer. He is known as the reputed author of the Tao Te Ching, the founder of philosophical Taoism, and a deity in religious Taoism and tradition...

Confucius was a Chinese teacher, editor, politician, and philosopher of the Spring and Autumn period of Chinese history. The philosophy of Confucius, also known as Confucianism, emphasized personal and governmental morality, correctness...

Sun Tzu was a Chinese general, military strategist, writer and philosopher who lived in the Eastern Zhou period of ancient China. Sun Tzu is traditionally credited as the author of The Art of War, an influential work of military strategy th...

Qin Shi Huang is the modern Chinese name of King Zheng of Qin (r.246–221 BC), who ended the Warring States period by completing the conquest of China in 221 BC. Rather than maintain the title of king borne by the Shang and Zhou rulers, he r...

Han Gaozu, Chinese emperor, reigned 206-194 B.C, during the Eastern Han dynasty. Emperor Gao, commonly known inside China as Gaozu, personal name Liu Bang, was the first emperor of the Chinese Han Dynasty, ruling over China from 202 BC unti...

Emperor Wu of Han was the seventh emperor of the Han dynasty of China, ruling from 141–87 BC. He is one of the most famous emperors of ancient China. Emperor Wu's reign lasted 54 years — a record that was not broken until the reign of th...

Zhang Qian (d. 113 BC) was a Chinese official and diplomat who served as an imperial envoy to the world outside of China in the 2nd century BC, during the time of the Han dynasty. He was the first official diplomat to bring back reliable in...

Sima Qian was a Chinese historian of the early Han dynasty (206 BC – AD 220). He is considered the father of Chinese historiography for his Records of the Grand Historian, a general history of China in the Jizhuanti style covering more than...

Emperor Guangwu, courtesy name Wenshu, was an emperor of the Chinese Han dynasty, restorer of the dynasty in AD 25 and thus founder of the Later Han or Eastern Han (the restored Han Dynasty). He ruled over parts of China at first, and throu...

Zhang Heng was a Chinese astronomer, mathematician, inventor, geographer, cartographer, artist, poet, statesman, and literary scholar from Nanyang, Henan. He lived during the Eastern Han Dynasty (AD 25–220) of China. He was educated in the...