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A calendar of Chinese history

21 events

  1. Birth

    Birth of Zhou Enlai

    Zhou Enlai is born on 5 March 1898 in Huaiyin, Jiangsu. The first Premier of the People's Republic of China, from October 1949 until his death, under Mao Zedong, and foreign minister from 1949 to 1958, the skilled diplomat helps consolidate the Chinese Communist Party's hold on power, shapes the country's foreign policy and develops its economy. He dies in Beijing on 8 January 1976.

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  2. Festival

    Jingzhe solar term

    Around 5 March begins Jingzhe, literally the "end of the hibernation of insects", third of the twenty-four solar terms of the traditional Chinese calendar. It starts when the Sun reaches a longitude of 345° on the ecliptic, between 5 and 7 March depending on the year, preceded by Yushui ("rain water") and followed by Chunfen (the spring equinox) around 20 or 21 March.

  3. Festival

    Learn from Lei Feng Day

    On 5 March China marks Learn from Lei Feng Day, named after a People's Liberation Army soldier (1940-1962) held up as a model citizen by several major propaganda campaigns. The best known, in 1963, promotes the slogan "Follow the examples of Comrade Lei Feng" and urges the masses to emulate his selflessness, modesty and devotion to Mao Zedong.

  4. Birth

    Birth of Dong Biwu

    Dong Biwu is born on 5 March 1886 in Huanggang, Hubei. A communist judge and statesman who plays an important role under Mao Zedong, he serves as acting President of the People's Republic of China. He dies in Beijing on 2 April 1975.

  5. Birth

    Birth of Momofuku Ando

    Momofuku Ando, born Go Peh-hok, is born on 5 March 1910 in Taiwan, then a Japanese colony. Founder and head of Nissin Foods, he invents the modern instant noodle, Chikin Ramen, whose popularity earns him the nickname "Mr Noodle". He dies on 5 January 2007.

  6. Death

    Death of Cai Yuanpei

    Cai Yuanpei, philosopher and politician born in 1868, dies on 5 March 1940. An influential figure in the history of modern Chinese education, president of Peking University and founder of the Academia Sinica, he takes part in the New Culture and May Fourth movements and seeks a synthesis of Chinese and Western thinking.

  7. Death

    Death of Chen Cheng

    Chen Cheng, soldier and politician born on 4 January 1897 in Qingtian, Zhejiang, dies in Taiwan on 5 March 1965. A general of the National Revolutionary Army, a leading figure of the Kuomintang and a loyal follower of Chiang Kai-shek, whom he accompanies into exile in Taiwan, he becomes Premier and then Vice President of the Republic of China there, and is remembered for his reformist governance of the island.

  8. Politics

    Lhasa unrest

    From 5 to 7 March 1989 a new series of demonstrations in Lhasa, Tibet, turns violent, and security forces open fire on the demonstrators. The government of the autonomous region declares martial law in Lhasa on 7 March; it remains in force until May 1990.

  9. Birth

    Birth of Dai Wangshu

    Poet and translator Dai Wangshu, born Meng Ou, is born in 1905 in Hangzhou, Zhejiang. Known in France as Tai-Van-Chou during his stay there, he founds the so-called "modernist" school. He dies in Beijing in 1950.

  10. Birth

    Birth of He Zehui

    Nuclear physicist He Zehui, also known as Ho Zah-wei, is born on 5 March 1914. She works to develop nuclear physics in Europe and in China, and dies on 20 June 2011.

  11. Birth

    Birth of Wang Zengqi

    Wang Zengqi, novelist, essayist and Peking opera playwright, is born on 5 March 1920. Known for short stories and essays of elegant style, infused with traditional literature and the folklore of his hometown, he is regarded as a master stylist of modern Chinese and a successor of the "Beijing School" of Zhou Zuoren and his mentor Shen Congwen. He dies in 1997.

  12. Birth

    Birth of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche

    Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche is born on 5 March 1939 in Geje, Kham. A master of Tibetan Buddhism, recognized within his tradition as the eleventh incarnation of the Trungpa lineage, he founds Vajradhatu and Naropa University in the West in the 1970s, as well as a secular path of meditation in the Shambhala lineage, and is remembered for his iconoclastic methods. He dies in Halifax on 4 April 1987.

  13. Birth

    Birth of Yi Gang

    Economist Yi Gang is born on 5 March 1958. Vice governor of the People's Bank of China from 2007 to 2018, he serves as its governor from 2018 to 2023, having also headed the State Administration of Foreign Exchange from 2009 to 2015.

  14. Birth

    Birth of Tang Gonghong

    Super-heavyweight weightlifter Tang Gonghong is born on 5 March 1979 in Yantai. World champion in the over 75 kg category in 1998 and 1999, she wins Olympic gold in Athens in 2004.

  15. Birth

    Birth of Du Li

    Sport shooter Du Li is born on 5 March 1982 in Yiyuan. She is married to fellow shooter Pang Wei.

  16. Birth

    Birth of Liang Wenbo

    Snooker player Liang Wenbo is born on 5 March 1987 in Zhaodong, Heilongjiang. A professional from 2004 to 2023, he wins his first ranking title at the English Open on 16 October 2016 and the World Cup team event with China in 2011 and 2017; his career ends abruptly in June 2023 when he is found guilty of fixing several matches.

  17. Birth

    Birth of Li Wenwen

    Weightlifter Li Wenwen is born on 5 March 2000 in Anshan. She wins the Olympic title in the over 87 kg category at the Tokyo 2020 Games.

  18. Death

    Death of Chu Shijian

    Chu Shijian, the entrepreneur known as the "king of tobacco" and the "king of oranges", dies on 5 March 2019. He turns the near-bankrupt Yuxi Cigarette Factory into one of China's most profitable state-owned companies and its Hongtashan brand into one of the country's most valuable; arrested for embezzlement in 1996 and sentenced to life imprisonment in 1999, he is released on medical parole in 2002.

  19. Death

    Death of Empress Xiaoshurui

    Empress Xiaoshurui, of the Hitara clan of the Manchu Plain White Banner, dies on 5 March 1797. Born on 2 October 1760, the first empress consort of the Jiaqing Emperor, she holds the title for barely a year, from 1796 until her death.

  20. Death

    Death of Tsai Ah-hsin

    Tsai Ah-hsin, colonial Taiwan's first female physician, born in 1899, dies on 5 March 1990. A graduate of the Tokyo Women's Medical College in 1921, she founds her own hospital at Taichu in 1925 and runs a seminar there training midwives in obstetrics, which she has to close in 1938.

  21. Birth

    Birth of Xu Kai

    Actor and model Xu Kai is born on 5 March 1995. He is known for the television series Story of Yanxi Palace, The Legends, Arsenal Military Academy, Falling into Your Smile and Royal Feast.

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