People of the Revolution and the USSR
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Sun Yat-sen 孙中山
Founding father of the Republic of China who framed the Three Principles of the People and the first united front
Political and party leadership · Kuomintang
1866–1925
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Wang Jingwei 汪精卫
Sun Yat-sen’s heir and Kuomintang left leader who ended as head of the Japanese-sponsored Nanjing regime
Political and party leadership · Kuomintang
1883–1944
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Yeo Un-hyeong 여운형
He met Lenin and Sun Yat-sen, then staked everything on left-right unity: the last Korean unificationist before partition
Social movements and organizing · Kuomintang
1886–1947
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Chiang Kai-shek 蔣介石
Nationalist leader who combined resistance to Japan with anti-communist rule
Political and party leadership · Kuomintang
1887–1975
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Mao Zedong 毛泽东
He rewrote the grammar of revolution for a peasant country
Political and party leadership · People’s Republic of China
1893–1976
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Soong Ching-ling 宋庆龄
Sun Yat-sen’s widow who stayed with the Kuomintang left and became a vice-chair of the People’s Republic
Social movements and organizing · Communist Party of China
1893–1981
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Soong Ziwen 宋子文
A Nationalist technocrat who bridged finance and diplomacy
Economy, finance and planning · Kuomintang
1894–1971
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Tsiang Tingfu 蒋廷黻
The Nationalist diplomat whose presence at the Security Council table triggered the Soviet walkout
Diplomacy and international organization · Kuomintang
1895–1965
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Zhang Guotao 张国焘
Chair of the founding congress who split with Mao on the Long March and defected to the Nationalists
Political and party leadership · Communist Party of China
1897–1979
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Ye Jianying 叶剑英
From Whampoa instructor to marshal, the soldier who organised the arrest of the Gang of Four in 1976 and ended the Cultural Revolution
Military command · People’s Republic of China
1897–1986
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Zhou Enlai 周恩来
The PRC's first premier and an architect of its foreign policy
Government and administration · People’s Republic of China
1898–1976