Empire of China

State · 1916 CE · at its largest around 1916 CE

Yuan Shikai, the strongman president of the new republic, tried to crown himself emperor and revive the dragon throne. The scheme collapsed within months amid revolts and public outrage, and he died soon after, leaving China to the warlords.

On its lands while it lasted

British Hong Kong (1841–1997 CE): Britain occupied Hong Kong Island in 1841 and ruled the colony, later enlarged, until 1997.
British Raj (1858–1947 CE): After the 1857 rebellion the British Crown took direct rule of India from the East India Company, governing until independence in 1947.
Rabindranath Tagore (1861 CE – 1941 CE): Bengali poet, writer and composer, in 1913 the first non-European to win the Nobel Prize in Literature.
Sun Yat-sen (1866 CE – 1925 CE): Revolutionary leader and first provisional president of the Republic of China, honoured as the "Father of the Nation".
Muhammad Iqbal (1877 CE – 1938 CE): Poet and philosopher writing in Urdu and Persian whose 1930 address helped inspire the idea of Pakistan.
Chiang Kai-shek (1887 CE – 1975 CE): Nationalist leader of the Republic of China who led it against Japan and, after 1949, ruled on Taiwan.
French Indochina (1887–1954 CE): Federation of French colonial territories in Vietnam, Cambodia and later Laos, formed in 1887 and dissolved after the First Indochina War.
Jawaharlal Nehru (1889 CE – 1964 CE): Leader in the independence movement and first prime minister of India, serving from 1947 until his death.
Ho Chi Minh (1890 CE – 1969 CE): Vietnamese revolutionary who led the Viet Minh independence movement, declared the Democratic Republic of Vietnam in 1945 and led North Vietnam until his death.
Mao Zedong (1893 CE – 1976 CE): Communist revolutionary who founded the People's Republic of China and led it until his death.
Subhas Chandra Bose (1897 CE – 1945 CE): Nationalist leader who led the Indian National Army against British rule with Axis support during the Second World War.
Zhou Enlai (1898 CE – 1976 CE): First premier of the People's Republic of China, serving from 1949 until his death.
Deng Xiaoping (1904 CE – 1997 CE): Paramount leader of China from 1978 who launched market reforms and opening to the world.
Mother Teresa (1910 CE – 1997 CE): Catholic nun who founded the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta and received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979.
Kim Il Sung (1912 CE – 1994 CE): Founding leader of North Korea from 1948 until his death.