Welcome to the 'Best Character with [X] surname' polls!
This is where I take several characters from different Chinese media (mostly cnovels and cdrama) and run a poll on which one is the 'best'. What does best mean? It's up to you! Whether you love them, are intrigued by their characters, love to hate them, or they're your '2 second blorbos whose personality you made up wholesale', these are all reasons for you to vote for your favs!
NB: the surnames are not exactly the same in all the cases, as often they will be a different character. I am, however, grouping them all together otherwise things got more complicated.
If you can't find a surname, it's because I couldn't find enough candidates (at least 3 from 3 distinct medias) to compete. Feel free to submit candidates!
I will be posting several polls at a time, so do come back and check this masterpost to remember which polls are ongoing, who the winners are, and who's coming up next!
Finished polls: Xing/Rong/Nan/Ren/Pan/Qu/Fu/Sui/Tan/You/Sima/Xuan/Chang/Xun/Shangguan/Jian/Qian/Shu/Xi/Yuwen/Cai/Sha/Yin/Ceng/Helian/Zeng/Lou/Mi/Ji/Ping/Tong/Tuoba/Ge/Murong/Hei/Niu/Tao/Si/Pang/Zi/Gongsun/Mao/Qing/Lian
Chi/Shan/Tian/Dao/Chao/Xin/Ran/Sang/Cang/Miao/Yao/Zang/Chong/Nangong/Kong/Hai/Deng/Kang/Jun/Chun/Gui/Peng/Gong/Dai/Bao/Bian/Leng/Xian/Kan/Hou/Shao/Kou/Zuo/Lai/Tie/Huan/Min/Xiong/Cen/Dou/Misc
There's only a certain number of hyperlinks that can be added per post, so the rest of the completed polls can now be found here
All the details of the individual polls under the readmore
An - posted 15/03/24 WINNER An Zhe
Bai - posted 28/02/24 WINNER Bai Fengxi
Baili - posted 22/03/24 WINNER Baili Qingmiao
Bao - posted 1/05/24 WINNER Bao Rongxing
Bi - posted 26/03/24 WINNER Bi Changfeng
Bian - posted 1/05/14 WINNER Bian Cheng
Cai - posted 7/04/24 WINNER Cai Quan
Cang - posted 23/04/24 WINNER Cang Jiumin
Cao - posted 8/02/24. WINNER - Cao Weining
Cen - posted 7/05/24 WINNEER Cen Xiao
Ceng - posted 8/04/24 WINNER Ceng Aiyu
Chang - posted 3/04/24 WINNER Chang Geng
Chao - posted 21/04/24 WINNER Chao Zi
Chen - posted 9/02/24 WINNER Chen Qingxu
Cheng - posted 10/03/24 WINNER Cheng Shaoshang
Chi - posted 19/04/24 WINNERS Chi Zhanggui and Chi Xiaochi
Chong - posted 25/04/24 WINNER Chong Ming
Chu - posted 12/03/24 WINNER Chu Wanning
Chun - posted 28/04/24 WINNER Chun Shen
Cui - posted 11/03/24 WINNER Madam Cui
Dai - posted 30/04/24 WINNER Dai Mubai
Dao - posted 20/04/24 WINNER Dao Mingsi
Deng - posted 27/04/24 WINNER Deng Kuan
Di - posted 16/02/24 WINNER Di Feisheng
Ding - posted 7/03/24 WINNER Ding Rong
Dong - posted 21/03/24 WINNER Dong Yi
Dongfang - posted 25/03/24 WINNER Dongfang Qingcang
Dou - posted 7/05/24 WINNER Dou Cheng
Du - posted 26/03/24 WINNER Du Cheng
Duan - posted 23/03/24 WINNER Duan Baiyue
Fan - posted 27/02/24 WINNER Fan Xian
Fang - posted 24/02/24 WINNER Fang Duobing
Fei - posted 20/03/24 WINNER Fei Du
Feng - posted 28/02/24 WINNER 'Other'
Fu - posted 31/03/24 WINNER Fu Yao
Gao - posted 13/02/24 WINNER Gao Xiaolian
Ge - posted 13/04/24 WINNER Ge Chen
Gong - posted 30/04/24 WINNER Gong Yu
Gongsun - posted 17/04/24 WINNER Gongsun Heng
Gu - posted 7/03/24 WINNER Gu Xiang
Guan - posted 17/03/24 WINNER Guan Hemeng
Gui - posted 29/04/24 WINNERS Gui Wen, Gui Yang, Gui Bai and 'Other'
Guo - posted 9/02/24 WINNER Guo Changcheng
Hai - posted 26/04/24 WINNER Hai Lanshi
Han - posted 17/03/24 WINNER Han Ying
Hao - posted 16/03/24 WINNER Hao Du
He - posted 22/03/24 WINNER He Xuan
Hei - posted 14/04/24 WINNER Hei Xiazi
Helian - posted 9/04/24 wINNER Helian Yi
Hong - posted 8/03/24 WINNER Hong Qigong
Hou - posted 3/05/24 WINNER Hou Bin
Hu - posted 6/03/24 WINNER Hu Tianying
Hua - posted 21/02/24 WINNER Hua Cheng
Huan - posted 6/05/24 WINNER Huan Xiaoyan
Huang - posted 20/03/24 WINNER Huang Shaotian
Huo - posted 25/02/24 WINNER Huo Xiuxiu
Ji - posted 11/04/24 WINNER Ji Xue
Jia - posted 18/03/24 WINNER Jia Kui
Jian - posted 4/04/24 WINNER Jian Buzhi
Jiang - posted 12/02/24 WINNER Jiang Cheng
Jiao - posted 27/03/24 WINNER Jiao Liqiao
Jin - posted 29/02/24 WINNER Jin Ling
Jing - posted 14/03/24 WINNER Jing Beiyuan
Jun - posted 28/04/24 WINNER 'Other"
Kan - posted 3/05/24 WINNER Kan Jian
Kang - posted 27/04/24 WINNER 'Other'
Kong - posted 26/04/24 WINNERS Kong Xiu and Alexis Kong
Kou - posted 4/05/24 WINNER Kou Baimen
Lai - posted 5/05/24 WINNER Lai Zhongshu
Lan - posted 23/02/24 WINNER Lan Wangji
Lei - posted 12/03/24 WINNER Lei Wujie
Leng - posted 2/05/24 WINNER Leng Yue
Li - posted 18/02/24 WINNER Li Lianhua
Lian - posted 18/04/24 WINNERS Lian Yufan and Lian Qiao
Liang - posted 13/03/24 WINNER 'Other'
Lin - posted 14/02/24 WINNER Lin Chen
Ling - posted 6/03/24 WINNER Ling Wen
Liu - posted 16/02/24 WINNER Liu Qingge
Long - posted 23/03/24 WINNER Long Zhi
Lou - posted 10/04/24 WINNER Lou Yao
Lu - posted 5/03/24 WINNER Lu Guang
Luo - posted 24/02/24 WINNER Luo Binghe
Ma - posted 13/03/24 WINNER Ma Xiuying
Mao - posted 17/04/24 WINNER Mao Panfeng
Mei - posted 14/02/24 WINNER Mei Changsu
Meng - posted 29/02/24 WINNER Meng Zhi
Mi - posted 10/04/24 WINER Mi Chong
Miao - posted 23/04/24 WINNER Miao Renfeng
Min - posted 6/05/24 WINNER Min Yunzhong
Ming - posted 26/02/24 WINNER Ming Yi
Misc - posted 7/05/24 WINNER Gongyi Xiao
Mo - posted 18/02/24 WINNER Mo Xuanyu
Mu - posted 22/02/24 WINNER Mu Nihuang
Murong - posted 13/04/24 WINNER Other
Nan - posted 29/03/24 WINNER Nan Feng
Nangong - posted 25/04/24 WINNER Nangong Si
Nie - posted 15/03/24 WINNER Nie Huaisang
Ning - posted 19/03/24 WINNER Ning Yingying
Niu - posted 14/04/24 WINNER Niu Chunmiao
Ouyang - posted 5/03/24 WINNER Ouyang Zizhen
Pan - posted 30/03/24 WINNER Pan Zi
Pang - posted 16/04/24 WINNER Pang Yizhi
Pei - posted 20/02/24 WINNER Pei Ming
Peng - posted 29/04/24 wINNER Peng Sanbian
Ping - posted 11/04/24 WINNER Ping An
Qi - posted 22/02/24 WINNER 'Other'
Qian - posted 5/04/24 WINNER Qian Jin
Qiao - posted 10/02/24 WINNER Qiao Wanmian
Qin - posted 16/03/24 WINNER Qin Banruo
Qing - posted 18/04/24 WINNER Qing Ge
Qiu - posted 25/03/24 WINNER Qiu Congxue
Qu - posted 30/03/24 WINNER Qu Lingfeng
Ran - posted 22/04/24 WINNERS Ran Lin and Ran Yun
Ren - posted 29/03/24 WINNER Ren Ruyi
Rong - posted 28/03/24 WINNER Rong Changqing
Ruan - posted 21/03/24 WINNER Ruan Nanzhu
Sang - posted 22/04/24 WINNER Sang Zan
Sha - posted 7/04/24 WINNER Sha Hualing
Shan - posted 19/04/24 WINNER Shan Gudao
Shang - posted 3/03/24 WINNER Shang Qinghua
Shangguan - posted 4/04/24 WINNER Shangguan Qin
Shao - posted 4/05/24 WINNER Shao Lin
Shen - posted 23/02/24 WINNER Shen Wei
Sheng - posted 4/03/24 WINNER Sheng Minglan
Sima - posted 2/04/24 WINNER Sima Yi
Shi - posted 8/03/24 WINNER Shi Qingxuan
Shu - posted 5/04/24 WINNER Shu Yanyan
Si - posted 15/04/24 WINNER Si Yilin
Song - posted 19/02/24 WINNER Song Lan
Su - posted 13/02/24 WINNER Su Zhe
Sun - posted 15/02/24 WINNER Sun Wukong
Sui - posted 31/03/24 WINNER Sui Zhou
Tan - posted 1/04/24 WINNER 'Other'
Tang - posted 12/02/24 WINNER Tang Fan
Tao - posted 15/04/24 WINNER Tao Ran
Tian - posted 20/04/24 WINNER Tian Qi
Tie - posted 5/05/24 WINNERS Tie Yinyi and Tie Miansheng
Tong - posted 12/04/24 WINNER Tong Lu
Tuoba - posted 12/04/24 WINNER Tuoba Yan
Wan - posted 24/03/24 WINNER Consort Wan
Wang - posted 26/02/24 WINNER Wang Pangzi
Wei - posted 8/02/24 WINNER Wei Wuxian
Wen - posted 2/03/24 WINNER Wen Kexing
Wu - posted 15/02/24 WINNER Wu Xie
Xi - posted 6/04/24 WINNER Xi Ping
Xia - posted 11/03/24 WINNER Xia Dong
Xian - posted 2/05/24 WINNERS Xian Ge and Xian Qing
Xiang - posted 19/03/24 WINNER Xiang Liu and Xiang Nanfang
Xiao - posted 20/02/24 WINNER Xiao Jingyan
Xie - posted 21/02/24 WINNER Xie Lian
Xin - posted 21/04/24 WINNER Xin Ziyuan
Xing - posted 28/03/24 WINNER Xing Zhi
Xiong - posted 7/05/24 WINNERS Xiong yipei and Xiong Chumo
Xu - posted 25/02/24 WINNER Xu Da
Xun - posted 3/04/24 WINNER Xun Feizhan
Xuan - posted 2/04/24 WINNER Xuan Shen'an | The Empress
Xue -posted 11/02/24 WINNER Xue Yang
Yan - posted 19/02/24 WINNER Yan Wushi
Yang - posted 3/03/24 WINNER Yang Wuxie
Yao - posted 24/04/24 WINNER Yao Zhen
Ye - posted 10/02/24 WINNER Ye Baiyi
Yi - posted 9/03/24 WINNER Yi Bichen
Yin - posted 8/04/24 WINNER Yin Yu
Ying - posted 17/02/24 WINNER Ying Hecong
You - posted 1/04/24 WINNER You Huo
Yu - posted 11/02/23 WINNER Yu Ziyuan
Yun - posted 1/03/24 WINNER Yun Biqiu
Yuan - posted 27/02/24 WINNER Yuan Boya
Yue - posted 4/03/24 WINNER Yue Qingyuan
Yuwen - posted 6/04/24 WINNER Yuwen Xuan
Zang - posted 24/02/24 WINNER Zang Ming
Zeng - posted 9/04/24 WINNER Zeng Xiangdong
Zhan - posted 10/03/24 WINNER Zhan Yunfei
Zhang - posted 17/02/24 WINNER Zhang Qiling
Zhao - posted 1/03/24 WINNER Zhao Yunlan
Zhen - posted 24/03/24 WINNER Zhen Ping
Zhi - posted 14/03/24 WINNER Zhi Xiu
Zhong - posted 27/03/24 WINNER Zhong Li
Zhou - posted 2/02/24 WINNER Zhou Zishu
Zhu - posted 9/03/24 Winner Zhu Hong
Zhuge - posted 18/03/24 WINNER Zhuge Liang
Zi - posted 16/04/24 WINNER 'Other'
Zuo - posted 5/05/24 WINNER Zuo Ran
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Nirvana in Fire Historical Parallels: The Warrior Princess
Hua Mulan/花木兰 is unquestionably the most famous woman warrior of ancient China. But how much of her legend actually happened is of debate, while there were many historical women generals who were more similar to Mu Nihuang in NiF. Here are a few of the most notable, in chronological order:
Fu Hao/妇好 (Hao is her family name; before the Qin Dynasty, family names for women were at the end, reversed from the current name order; Fu means married woman now, but could have referred to priestess then), the earliest woman military leader on record, lived during the Shang Dynasty and died in 1200 BCE. Because her time period predated paper, what we know about her came from oracle bone script and the hundreds of weapons in her tomb, which is a burial rite afforded only to generals. As consort to King Wu Ding/武丁, she led an army of 13,000 to many successful military campaigns against the Shang’s enemies. She was not only a general and high priestess, two of the most important roles in that time era, but also owned her own land, which was extremely unusual for feudal women. After her death, the king made many sacrifices at her tomb in hopes of receiving her spiritual guidance to defeat invading enemies.
Mother Lü/吕母 (name unknown, so she is referred to as a mother of the Lü family) lived during the Western Han Dynasty in Langya Commandery and was the first woman rebel leader in Chinese history. After her son was executed for not punishing peasants who could not pay their taxes, she aided peasants under hard times by giving away her considerable family wealth while plotting revenge on the government. During this time, a consort kin to the Emperor had seized the throne and started his own Xin Dynasty/新朝 (literally New Dynasty), enacting many radical socialist reforms such as land redistribution and abolishing the slave trade. A series of natural disasters and poor implementation of the new policies led to great unrest and suffering among the peasant class. Commoners united around Mother Lü, and three years later, in 17 CE, she amassed thousands of loyal followers and declared herself the leader of the rebellion. They took the city, and she beheaded the county magistrate who had killed her son, sacrificing his head on her son’s tomb. As news of her successful rebellion spread, thousands more joined her even as the government attempted to quash her forces. Though she died from illness a year later, many in her army joined the Chimei Army/赤眉军 (literally red brows), a key force in the eventual downfall of the Xin Dynasty.
The most similar to Nihuang is probably Lady Xian/冼夫人, who lived in the 500s CE and served the Liang (the Liang of NiF is very loosely based on this dynasty), Chen, and Sui Dynasties. She was the daughter of a chieftain of a clan of the Li/俚 people and demonstrated great leadership and political acumen from a young age (women in her family could inherit command). She favored diplomatic solutions over fighting as much as possible and was always loyal to the reign, putting down local rebellions and eliminating corruption. Nihuang’s title of commandery princess/郡主 was also one of her titles, and as thanks for her bringing many minority peoples under unified rule, the Sui emperor gave much of modern-day Hainan to her command, much like Nihuang. She lived to around 90 and was given a posthumous name by the emperor as a sign of great respect. Hundreds of temples in the south were built in her honor, where she was deified and remains worshipped today as the Saintly Mother of Lingnan/岭南圣母.
One of many statues of Lady Xian.
Princess Pingyang/平阳公主 (personal name unknown) was the third daughter of the founding emperor of the Tang Dynasty. Her father was an aristocrat who decided to seize the opportunity during the chaos of the failing Sui Dynasty to raise an army in 617 CE, and she decided to help her father ascend to power. With remarkable leadership and recruitment power, she quickly recruited several Jianghu volunteer armies under her wing. More and more people joined as her reputation spread, such that she had seventy thousand under her command by the end in what was known as the Woman’s Army/娘子军. Her forces registered several victories before rendezvousing with her father’s forces to take Chang’an, which would become the capital of the new dynasty. She was given the title of Princess Pingyang and higher honors than her sisters as a sign of her father’s gratitude for her help in starting his new dynasty.
After the coup of Chang’an, there was nothing in recorded history about her until her funeral. A rite officer had objected to burying her with military honors instead of a princess’s rites, but her father and emperor said she always fought at the vanguard of her army, so there was nothing wrong with full military honors. She is the only woman in recorded Chinese feudal history to be interred by soldiers.
Qin Liangyu/秦良玉 (1574-1648) was born to a civil bureaucrat in the late Ming Dynasty who believed in educating women, and she became skilled at riding, archery, and poetry. She looked up to Lady Xian and Princess Pingyang from a young age, and told her father that she would equal their accomplishments if she had military command (倘使女儿得掌兵柄,应不输平阳公主和冼夫人). She was married to a local county commissioner who often led armies to quash invasions from the neighboring Manchu Jin Dynasty, and he gave her command of part of his army. When he died in prison being falsely accused of wrongdoing, she assumed his role, as their son was still young. She defeated numerous Jin invasions across the country, and the Emperor gave her the title of Marquis in recognition of her actions in defending the homeland. She’s famous for being the only female general recorded alongside men in the official histories of her dynasty.
A portrait of Qin Liangyu.
So, what made these women leaders of armies while most women throughout Chinese history couldn’t even dream of such a thing? Fu Hao lived a very long time ago, well before the later Confucian system where wives are supposed to obey their husbands and serve at home. For the others, there are some common factors: growing up in a well-to-do family that educated daughters, demonstrated interest and skill in fighting and leadership, being around military power (true of a vast majority of male generals as well, of course), and some kind of unusual circumstance that gave them power, whether a husband or father allowing them to do so or an environment of unrest that gave them an opportunity.
The warrior princess trope exists for a reason: it’s the highborn daughters and wives of generals who are most likely to get the opportunity to command an army. And their stories are more well-known than, say, women like Chen Shuozhen/陈硕真, who came from destitute upbringings and called herself the emperor while leading a peasant rebellion that eventually failed. All history is biased, and contemporary Chinese history seems to favor those who quashed rebellions and promoted national unity.
Given these historical examples, it’s not so outlandish to imagine that Nihuang was educated by her father in the military arts from a young age, showed great fighting and leadership ability, and was then able to take command when he died during a crisis and while her brother Mu Qing was still too young. She is an exception in a field of men, as these historical women were. And like these women, she was very much still subjected to the expectations and boundaries of feudal women.
In some sense, show Nihuang is an ideal female Confucian role model. She is the perfect daughter and older sister who assumed the family mantle when there are no capable men, doing her duty under a corrupt regime for twelve years, with the implication that she will give up at least some of her responsibilities to Mu Qing when he’s ready. She is the perfect widow who never strayed from her arranged marriage pact. And she is the perfect potential wife who shed all of her commanding aura whenever she interacted with post-identity reveal Mei Changsu—she may question him but she will always listen to him, in the end. Her first scene is of a warrior princess soundly defeating men, and her last big scene is her telling Feiliu she wants to obey her Lin Shu-gege.
This is a far cry from book Nihuang, who moved on in those twelve years and found someone else to love. To be clear, there is nothing intrinsically wrong with characters displaying period-typical attitudes, and other female characters in canon, like Consort Jing, are compelling without being hidebound by tradition. Within the microcosm of NiF the show, the change to Nihuang’s character may only be due to the creators wanting to increase her screen time in a male-heavy show and add a tragic romance element that they felt the book lacked. But media doesn’t exist in a vacuum, and after some prominent examples of one-sided adaptation changes in recent years—The Rise of Phoenixes taking a book starring a strong female character and dramatically increasing the male character’s screen time for the actor to get top billing, Serenade of Peaceful Joy adapting a book centered around a princess’s futile rebellion against feudal expectations for women into a show about her loving daddy emperor trying to do the best for his daughter by keeping her in line, even Reset giving some of the main female character’s heroic moments in the book to the main male character in the show, to name a few—was Nihuang’s change from book to show a harbinger of the male-dominated Chinese television industry increasingly reshaping strong female characters into what they think women should be like?
This issue of media depictions affects historical women generals, as well. For various reasons, they haven’t gotten their big breaks in modern mainstream media, and the most famous Chinese female warriors remain Mulan and a few other very fictionalized characters who have had popular shows and movies made about their lives. A Qin Liangyu drama was supposed to be filmed a few years ago but never aired, and as typical of this era of Chinese media censorship, no one seems to know what happened to it.
With the lack of extant details for most of these military leaders, one can depict them as either true believers of Confucian values or as women who questioned and struggled against societal conventions. It isn’t hard to guess what’s more likely to be made today, with a slapped-on love story and plenty of screen time for the men to boot. If we can’t give a warrior princess a sword without always making her a dutiful daughter, wife, and patriot, perhaps we shouldn’t be telling her story to begin with.
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