Called by a bunch of different names. Best known as Sun Yat-sen in the west. Father of the Chinese Revolution. Honored by both nationalists and communists. Opposed dynastic leadership and foreign occupation for the purpose of establishing a Chinese Republic. Led forces in the 1911 Revolution that overthrew the Qing Dynasty and established the Republic of China. First leader of the Guomindang. Christian, Georgist, and pan-Asianist. Liked Japanese schoolgirls (based).

Close associate of Sun Yixian. Studied in Japan and came to support democracy and liberalism. Unsuccessfully attempted to assassinate the Prince Regent in 1910. Joined the Guomindang and lost to Jiang Jieshi in a power struggle but remained an influential member. Sought peace with the Axis Powers and was considered a traitor for ruling Nanjing as a puppet state of Imperial Japan.

Christian Hakka background. Joined the Guomindang in 1919 and the CCP in 1927. Leader of the Military Commission under the People's Republic. Joined the Politburo in 1966. Member of the February Adverse Current, but survived the Cultural Revolution unpurged. Led the conspiracy to oust the Gang of Four. Supported peaceful steps toward reunification with Taiwan under Deng Xiaoping.

Secretary-general under Mao. Purged during the Cultural Revolution as "number-two" Party capitalist after Liu Shaoqi. Became leader of China from 1976-1989. Created ambitious reforms to globalize and liberalize China in terms of economy and culture. Nevertheless maintained an authoritarian system with the killing of at least several hundred protestors during the Tiananmen Square massacre.