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Who Is the Most Famous Person in Chinese History?
Posted in Ask Jean about China on 11/25/2008 10:08 am by Jean Chesterton
Dear Jean,
I am taking an Asian history class and I have an interesting assignment ahead of me for the end of the semester. I am supposed to write a 10 page paper on who I think was the most famous person in Chinese history. While I can certainly pick someone myself, I am curious about what Chinese people think? Who do they think was the most famouos person in their history? And how about you?
Thanks so much,
Hannah in B.C.
Jean answers Hannah’s question
Dear Hannah,
Thank you for a very interesting question. Actually, I have asked this very same question in my ESL classrooms throughout China. As you might well expect, the most common and almost ‘automatic’ answer is Mao Zedong. This does not necessarily mean that students love Chairman Mao; they just happen to think that he is the most ‘well-known’ man in Chinese history because of his status as the founder of present day China.
The students who do not quickly shout out the name ‘Chairman Mao’ bring up other notable names in Chinese history such as the ancient philosopher Confucius and China’s beloved first premier, Zhou Enlai. A few students have even mentioned Deng Xiaoping as China’s most famous person since it was he who opened the doors and pushed China down its present path of development.
To answer your question clearly, it would seem that Chairman Mao is China’s most famous person according to the people with whom I have talked to here.
Oh, and you asked me who I thought was China’s most famous person? Since I tend to judge famous people based on their merits and not just on their notoriety, I would have to go with Deng Xiaoping. He is the leader who opened China up to the world and made it possible for teachers like me to come and have the adventure of a lifetime!
Hope that helps
Sincerely,
Jean
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The China Teaching Web
11/26/2008 at 12:15 am
孫中山 (Sun Yat-sen)
Mao is “famous” like Hitler and Stalin.
11/26/2008 at 10:11 am
@Totochi,
I could not agree more with you about Mao. I have actually brought up the name of Sun Yat-sen in my classes after waiting to see if anyone would remember him. Few do bring up his name which I suppose speaks to the influence of Mao after he took power. While many have called Sun the “Father of Modern China” Mao is still held in higher esteem. Sun died 24 years before the founding of the PRC. I wonder what he would have though of Comrade Mao…
11/26/2008 at 10:47 am
BRUCE LEE by about a million miles, oh hang on, he was AMERICAN
11/26/2008 at 11:47 am
@Theo,
Good one. But actually, while we are on the subject of movie stars, how about Jackie Chan and Jet Li? I suppose they the most famous Chinese people worldwide at least at the moment…
12/15/2008 at 1:13 pm
Pamela Anderson is famous
12/21/2008 at 12:23 pm
Actually, it’ s really a difficult question. we all can’t easily tell who is the most famous one. But if there must be one, I think it’s Mao Zedong. It’s not because that he is the founder of the modern China, but that he lets the whole world know that what are Chines like when invaded. It’s a miracle that he led the Chinese through that difficulty though he ever made some mistakes.