Famous Hunanese

Apart from Mao Zedong (毛泽东), there are many famous people from Hunan province (湖南省, highlighted portion on map).

Such as Tan Sitong (谭嗣同), the first Chinese to sacrifice his life for political reform.

The province also supplied many figures in Sun Yat-sen's (孙中山) revolutionary movement which overthrew the Qing empire in 1911.

Sun's widow Soong Ching-ling (宋庆龄) was born near the provincial capital of Changsha (长沙), while Qi Baishi (齐白石), the renowned painter of shrimps, flowers, birds and blossoms was also from Hunan.

Hunan also supplied many famous names among the new generation of communist revolutionaries such as Peng Dehuai (彭德怀), Liu Shaoqi (刘少奇), He Long (贺龙) and Wang Zhen (王震).

A younger generation of Hunanese communists would include temporary successor to Mao Hua Guofeng (华国锋) and former CCP General Secretary Hu Yaobang (胡耀邦).