The Most Famous
INVENTORS from China
Top 8
The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Chinese Inventors of all time. This list of famous Chinese Inventors is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.
1. Cai Lun (48 - 121)
With an HPI of 74.90, Cai Lun is the most famous Chinese Inventor. His biography has been translated into 65 different languages on wikipedia.
Cai Lun (Chinese: 蔡伦; courtesy name: Jingzhong (敬仲); c. 50–62 – 121 CE), formerly romanized as Ts'ai Lun, was a Chinese eunuch court official of the Eastern Han dynasty. He occupies a pivotal place in the history of paper due to his addition of pulp via tree bark and hemp ends which resulted in the large-scale manufacture and worldwide spread of paper. Although traditionally regarded as the inventor of paper, earlier forms of paper have existed since the 3rd century BCE, so Cai's contributions are limited to innovation, rather than invention. Born in Guiyang Commandery (in what is now Leiyang), Cai arrived at the imperial court in Luoyang by 75 CE, where he served as a chamberlain for Emperor Ming, and then as Xiao Huangmen, an imperial messenger for Emperor Zhang. To assist Lady Dou in securing her adopted son as designated heir, he interrogated Consort Song and her sister, who then killed themselves. When Emperor He ascended the throne in 88 CE, Dou awarded Cai with two positions: Zhongchang shi, a political counselor to the emperor that was the highest position for eunuchs of the time, and also as Shangfang Ling, where Cai oversaw the production of instruments and weapons at the Palace Workshop. Despite Emperor He's successful coup d'état against the Dou family in 92 CE, Cai was undisturbed by his former ally's downfall. His position in the Palace Workshop increased in scope; he became responsible for the production of ceremonial weapons, which the Hou Hanshu reports were of exemplary craftsmanship. However, Cai's most noted innovation was in 105 CE, when he substantially improved the papermaking process with the use of tree bark, hemp waste, old rags, and fishnets. His new type of paper quickly displaced the bamboo and wooden slips used until then, and Cai received wealth and fame throughout the empire. In 110 CE, Lady Deng, who had become the empress dowager to the young Emperor An, appointed Cai to oversee 100 scholars' new edition of the Five Classics. Cai was rewarded for his imperial service in 114 CE; he received the title of marquis, and was enfeoffed lord of Longting, a small village. When his ally Deng died in 121 CE, Cai was ordered to the Ministry of Justice because of his involvement in the death of the emperor's grandmother, Consort Song. Ashamed at his predicament and expecting to be sentenced to death, he committed suicide that year and died in the capital city in which he had spent almost his entire adult life. Cai's improvements to paper-making are considered to have had an enormous impact on human history, and of those who created China's Four Great Inventions—the compass, gunpowder, papermaking and printing—Cai is the only inventor whose name is known. Although in China he is revered in ancestor worship, deified as the god of papermaking, and appears in Chinese folklore, he is mostly unknown outside of East Asia. His hometown in Leiyang remains an active center of paper production.
2. Charles K. Kao (1933 - 2018)
With an HPI of 71.90, Charles K. Kao is the 2nd most famous Chinese Inventor. His biography has been translated into 61 different languages.
Sir Charles Kao Kuen (November 4, 1933 – September 23, 2018) was a Chinese physicist and Nobel laureate who contributed to the development and use of fiber optics in telecommunications. In the 1960s, Kao created various methods to combine glass fibers with lasers in order to transmit digital data, which laid the groundwork for the evolution of the Internet. Kao was born in Shanghai. His family settled in Hong Kong in 1949. He graduated from St. Joseph's College in Hong Kong in 1953 and went to London to study electrical engineering. In the 1960s, Kao worked at Standard Telecommunication Laboratories, the research center of Standard Telephones and Cables (STC) in Harlow, and it was here in 1966 that he laid the groundwork for fiber optics in communication. Known as the "godfather of broadband", the "father of fiber optics", and the "father of fiber optic communications", he continued his work in Hong Kong at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and in the United States at ITT (the parent corporation for STC) and Yale University. Kao was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for "groundbreaking achievements concerning the transmission of light in fibers for optical communication". In 2010, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for “services to fiber optic communications”. A permanent resident of Hong Kong, Kao was a citizen of the United Kingdom and the United States.
3. Bi Sheng (990 - 1052)
With an HPI of 62.41, Bi Sheng is the 3rd most famous Chinese Inventor. His biography has been translated into 27 different languages.
Bi Sheng (Chinese: 畢昇; 972–1051 AD) was a Song dynasty Chinese artisan, engineer, and inventor of the world's first movable type technology. Bi Sheng's system used fired clay tiles, one for each Chinese character,and was invented between 1039 and 1048. Printing was one of the Four Great Inventions. Because Bi was a commoner, not an educated person, little is known about his life besides this invention.
4. Taiichi Ohno (1912 - 1990)
With an HPI of 61.02, Taiichi Ohno is the 4th most famous Chinese Inventor. His biography has been translated into 22 different languages.
Ohno Taiichi (大野耐一, Ōno Taiichi, February 29, 1912 – May 28, 1990) was a Japanese industrial engineer and businessman. He is considered to be the father of the Toyota Production System, which inspired Lean Manufacturing in the U.S. He devised the seven wastes (or muda in Japanese) as part of this system. He wrote several books about the system, including Toyota Production System: Beyond Large-Scale Production.
5. Yuan Longping (1930 - 2021)
With an HPI of 54.35, Yuan Longping is the 5th most famous Chinese Inventor. His biography has been translated into 26 different languages.
Yuan Longping (Chinese: 袁隆平; pinyin: Yuán Lóngpíng; September 7, 1930 – May 22, 2021) was a Chinese agronomist and inventor. He was a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering known for developing the first hybrid rice varieties in the 1970s, part of the Green Revolution in agriculture. For his contributions, Yuan is known as the "Father of Hybrid Rice". Hybrid rice has since been grown in dozens of countries in Africa, America, and Asia—boosting food security and providing a robust food source in areas with a high risk of famine. The technology allowed China to sustain 20% of the global population on 9% of global arable land, an achievement in food security where he was awarded the 2004 World Food Prize and the 2004 Wolf Prize in Agriculture respectively.
6. Thonmi Sambhota (618 - )
With an HPI of 53.05, Thonmi Sambhota is the 6th most famous Chinese Inventor. His biography has been translated into 18 different languages.
Thonmi Sambhota (Thönmi Sambhoṭa, aka Tonmi Sambhodha;, Tib. ཐོན་མི་སམ་བྷོ་ཊ།, Wyl. thon mi sam+b+ho Ta; b. seventh cent.) is traditionally regarded as the inventor of the Tibetan script and author of the Sum cu pa and Rtags kyi 'jug pa in the 7th century CE. Thonmi Sambhota is not mentioned in any of the Old Tibetan Annals or other ancient texts, although the Annals does mention writing shortly after 650. The two treaties attributed to him must postdate the 13th century. "According to Tibetan tradition, Songtsen Gampo sent a young man of the Thönmi or Thumi clan, Sambhoṭa son of Anu (or Drithorek Anu) to India in 632 with other youths, to learn the alphabet. The pattern chosen was the script of Kashmir. At all events, the ancient annals of Tun-huang record against the year 655 that 'the text of the laws was written'. It is staggering to realize that, in a couple of decades, not only was the Tibetan alphabet invented, but the script had been adapted to the Tibetan language by a highly complicated orthography, and used for the writing of documents. Thönmi is also said to have composed, no doubt later on, a very learned grammar on the Indian pattern." Of the students sent to India, Thonmi Sambhota, said to have been the fourth of seven wise ministers of the emperor Songtsen Gampo, was the only one to return to Tibet. It seems that the Tibetan script he devised, in what is believed to be Pabonka Hermitage was based on the Brahmi and Gupta scripts which had been in use in India since c. 350 CE. King Songtsen Gampo is said to have retired for four years to master the new script and grammar and then made many translations, including twenty Avalokitesvara texts. Other translators quickly added to the corpus of Buddhist translations. The "Six Codices of the Tibetan constitution" were drawn up and court records, genealogies, legends and poetry were preserved in writing.
7. An Wang (1920 - 1990)
With an HPI of 46.78, An Wang is the 7th most famous Chinese Inventor. Her biography has been translated into 20 different languages.
An Wang (Chinese: 王安; pinyin: Wáng Ān; February 7, 1920 – March 24, 1990) was a Chinese–American computer engineer and inventor, and cofounder of computer company Wang Laboratories, which was known primarily for its dedicated word processing machines. An Wang was an important contributor to the development of magnetic-core memory.
8. Robin Li (1968 - )
With an HPI of 43.59, Robin Li is the 8th most famous Chinese Inventor. His biography has been translated into 25 different languages.
Robin Li Yanhong (Chinese: 李彦宏; pinyin: Lǐ Yànhóng; born 17 November 1968) is a Chinese software engineer and billionaire internet entrepreneur who is the co-founder and chief executive officer of Chinese multinational technology company Baidu. As of June 2023, his net worth was estimated at US$8.6 billion by Forbes. Li studied information management at Peking University and computer science at the University at Buffalo. In 1996, he created RankDex. In 2000, he founded Baidu with Eric Xu. Li has been CEO of Baidu since January 2004. The company was listed on NASDAQ on August 5, 2005. Li is a member of the 12th Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. During his tenure as CEO of Baidu, Li has been criticized for a number of controversies, including the death of Wei Zexi, advertising of unqualified hospitals on Tieba, and ad fraud.
Pantheon has 8 people classified as inventors born between 48 and 1968. Of these 8, 1 (12.50%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living inventors include Robin Li. The most famous deceased inventors include Cai Lun, Charles K. Kao, and Bi Sheng. As of April 2022, 1 new inventors have been added to Pantheon including Yuan Longping.
Living Inventors
Go to all RankingsDeceased Inventors
Go to all Rankings
Cai Lun
48 - 121
HPI: 74.90
Charles K. Kao
1933 - 2018
HPI: 71.90
Bi Sheng
990 - 1052
HPI: 62.41
Taiichi Ohno
1912 - 1990
HPI: 61.02
Yuan Longping
1930 - 2021
HPI: 54.35
Thonmi Sambhota
618 - Present
HPI: 53.05
An Wang
1920 - 1990
HPI: 46.78
Newly Added Inventors (2022)
Go to all RankingsWhich Inventors were alive at the same time? This visualization shows the lifespans of the 4 most globally memorable Inventors since 1700.
