The Hongwu Emperor, personal name Zhu Yuanzhang, was the founder and first emperor 1368-1398 of the Ming Dynasty of China. His era name, Hongwu, means "Immensely Martial." The previous Mongol Yuan Dynasty was perceived as "foreign", and the...

The Yongle Emperor, born Zhu Di, was the third emperor of the Ming Dynasty of China from 1402 to 1424. His era name means "Perpetually Jubilant". His usurpation of the throne is now sometimes called the "Second Founding" of the Ming. He is...

Zheng He, formerly romanized as Cheng Ho, was a Chinese mariner, explorer, diplomat, fleet admiral, and court eunuch during China's early Ming dynasty. He was originally born as Ma He in a Muslim family, later adopted the conferred surname...

Alessandro Valignano was a Jesuit missionary born in Chieti, back then part of the Kingdom of Naples, who helped supervise the introduction of Catholicism to the Far East, and especially to Japan. Valignano founded the St. Paul's Jesuit col...

Matteo Ricci was an Italian Jesuit priest, and one of the founding figures of the Jesuit China Mission, as it existed in the 17th-18th centuries. His current title is Servant of God. Ricci started learning theology and law in a Roman Jesuit...

The Kangxi Emperor was the third emperor of the Qing Dynasty and the second Qing emperor to rule over China proper, from 1661 to 1722. Kangxi's reign of 61 years makes him the longest-reigning Chinese emperor in history (although his grands...

The Qianlong Emperor was the sixth emperor of the Manchu-led Qing Dynasty, and the fourth Qing emperor to rule over China proper. The fourth son of the Yongzheng Emperor, he reigned officially from 11 October 1735 to 8 February 1796. On 8 F...

George Macartney, 1st Earl Macartney, was an Irish-born British statesman, colonial administrator and diplomat. He is often remembered for his observation following Britain's success in the Seven Years War and subsequent territorial expansi...

The Daoguang Emperor was the eighth emperor of the Manchu Qing dynasty and the sixth Qing emperor to rule over China, from 1820 to 1850. His reign was marked by "external disaster and internal rebellion," that is, by the First Opium War, an...

Lin Zexu, courtesy name Yuanfu, was a Chinese scholar and official of the Qing dynasty. He is most recognized for his conduct and his constant position on the "moral high ground" in his fight, as a "shepherd" of his people, against the o...

Lieutenant-General Sir Henry Pottinger was an Anglo-Irish soldier and colonial administrator who became the first Governor of Hong Kong (1843-1844). Pottinger accepted Foreign Secretary Lord Palmerston's offer of the post of envoy and pl...

The Xianfeng Emperor, or by temple name Emperor Wenzong of Qing, given name Yizhu, was the eighth Emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the seventh Qing emperor to rule over China proper, reigned from 1850 to 1861. During his reign the Qing dyna...

The Dowager Empress Cixi popularly known in China as the Western Empress Dowager, and officially known posthumously as Empress Xiaoqin Xian, was a powerful and charismatic figure who was the de facto ruler of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, rulin...

Nikolai Mikhaylovich Przhevalsky also transliterated Przewalski, was a Russian geographer of Polish origin and explorer of Central and Eastern Asia. Although he never reached his final goal, Lhasa in Tibet, he travelled through regions unk...

Sun Yat-sen was a Chinese politician, physician and philosopher who provisionally served as the first president of the Republic of China; and the first leader of the Kuomintang (Nationalist Party of China). He is referred as the "Father of...