WChing Shih (born Shih Yang, a.k.a. Cheng I Sao, was a Chinese pirate leader who terrorized the China Seas during the Jiaqing Emperor period of the Qing dynasty in the early 19th century. She commanded over 300 junks manned by 20,000 to 40,000 pirates—men, women, and even children. She entered into conflict with major nations, such as the British Empire, the Portuguese Empire, and the Qing dynasty.
WHe Zizhen was the third wife of Chairman Mao Zedong from May 1930 to 1937.
WKang Keqing was a politician of the People's Republic of China, and the wife of Zhu De until his death in 1976.
WYoshiko Kawashima was a Qing dynasty princess of Manchu descent. She was raised in Japan and served as a spy for the Japanese Kwantung Army and puppet state of Manchukuo during the Second Sino-Japanese War. She is sometimes known in fiction under the pseudonym "Eastern Mata Hari". After the war, she was captured, tried, and executed as a traitor by the Nationalist government of the Republic of China. She was also a notable descendant of Hooge, eldest son of Hong Taiji.
WKwon Ki-ok, or Quan Jiyu in Chinese, was the first Korean female aviator, as well as one of the first female pilots in China. She went in exile in China during the Japanese occupation of Korea, and became a lieutenant colonel in the Republic of China Air Force. She returned home after the independence of Korea and became a founder of the Republic of Korea Air Force.
WLi Zhen was the first female general of the Chinese People's Liberation Army.
WMu Guiying (穆桂英) is a legendary heroine from ancient China's Northern Song Dynasty and a prominent figure in the Generals of the Yang Family legends. She is the wife of Yang Zongbao and mother of Yang Wenguang. Brave, resolute and loyal, Mu is the cultural symbol of a steadfast woman.
WQi Xin was a member of the Communist Party of China, who also wrote various articles on her husband Xi Zhongxun and is mother to Xi Jinping, current General Secretary of the Communist Party of China.
WQin Liangyu (1574–1648), courtesy name Zhensu, was a female general best known for defending the Ming dynasty from attacks by the Manchu-led Later Jin dynasty in the 17th century.
WQiu Jin was a Chinese revolutionary, feminist, and writer. Her courtesy names are Xuanqing and Jingxiong. Her sobriquet name is Jianhu Nüxia which, when translated literally into English, means "Woman Knight of Mirror Lake". Qiu was executed after a failed uprising against the Qing dynasty, and she is considered a national heroine in China; a martyr of republicanism and feminism.
WShe Saihua (佘賽花) is a legendary heroine from ancient China's Northern Song Dynasty. The wife of Yang Ye and the mother of their 7 sons, she is a prominent figure in the stories on Generals of the Yang Family.
WLady Xian, also known as Lady of Qiao Guo, was a noblewoman of the Li people, born to the chieftain of the Xian tribe in Southern China, in what is now Guangdong during the Sui dynasty. She has been deified as the "Saintly Mother of Lingnan" (岭南圣母). She died during a tour of Hainan. Former Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai called her "the First Heroine of China", and President Jiang Zemin praised her as "the role model that the later generations should learn forever".
WXiao Yanyan, also known as Empress Dowager Chengtian (承天皇太后) was a Khitan empress and military leader of imperial China's Liao dynasty. She is the youngest of the Xiao sisters, along with Xiao Hunian and Lady Xiao.
WXie Daoyun was a Chinese poet, writer, scholar, calligrapher and debater of the Eastern Jin Dynasty.
WYang Paifeng (楊排風) is a fictional character from the Generals of the Yang Family legends. She is a maid in the Tianbo House, home to the Yang family. She learned martial arts by imitating the moves practiced by Yang family members, using a metal rod that she was supposed to use to tend the kitchen fire. It is implied that she is not related to the family by blood, and took on the surname Yang because she was an orphan.
WZhang Qinqiu was a Chinese Communist revolutionary, military commander, and politician. She was one of the first female members of the Communist Party of China, and one of the 28 Bolsheviks trained in Moscow. A high-ranking commander of the Fourth Front Army of the Chinese Red Army during the Long March, she is often considered the only woman general of the Red Army. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, she served as Deputy Minister of Textile Industry. She was persecuted during the Cultural Revolution and committed suicide in 1968.
WZhao Yiman was a female Chinese resistance fighter against the Imperial Japanese Army in Northeast China, which was under the occupation of the Japanese puppet state Manchukuo. She was captured in 1935 by Japanese forces and executed in 1936. She is considered a national hero in China, and an eponymous biopic was made for her in 1950. The 2005 film My Mother Zhao Yiman was based on her son's memory of her.