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All Modern-Day Countries Ever Controlled by Chinese People

Chinese civilization is no doubt one of the oldest and most influential in the history of mankind. But how far have Chinese powers really stretched? Below is a map of modern-day countries that were fully or partially under their rule, can you name them all?
Click the map to zoom!
See comments for caveats
Quiz by Iluvbread123
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Last updated: September 6, 2021
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First submittedJanuary 25, 2021
Times taken38,935
Average score94.9%
Rating4.90
4:30
Enter modern-day countries here
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Countries
Afghanistan
Bahrain
Bangladesh
Bhutan
Brunei
Cambodia
China
Georgia
Countries
India
Indonesia
Iran
Japan
Kazakhstan
Kenya
Kyrgyzstan
Laos
Countries
Malaysia
Maldives
Mongolia
Myanmar
Nepal
North Korea
Oman
Pakistan
Countries
Philippines
Qatar
Russia
Saudi Arabia
Somalia
South Korea
Sri Lanka
Taiwan
Countries
Tajikistan
Thailand
Turkmenistan
United Arab Emirates
Uzbekistan
Vietnam
Yemen
+23
Level 75
Sep 6, 2021
For this quiz, the definition of Chinese people will be Han Chinese and other minorities heavily under its influence. Nomadic empires that became sinicized (e.g. Jin) will be considered whereas those that didn't (e.g. Yuan) are excluded. Places with Chinese influence but were never controlled by Chinese people as well as states with little to no / incorrect information are also discarded

Tributaries (except for Portugal, the Netherlands, and the Timurid Empire) are included

While this probably is not perfect, this map should be a rough representation of how far Chinese powers have reached

+3
Level 79
Mar 19, 2021
Interesting idea, nominated.

If tributaries are included as it says in the caveat, I feel as though the Philippines should be included through the tributaries of the Sultanate of Sulu and Cabaloan.to the Ming and Butuan (potentially) to the Song.

+1
Level 75
Mar 19, 2021
I was planning on doing more research and updating this. Thanks for the info! Looks like I can do slight less work now :P
+2
Level 79
Mar 20, 2021
Glad to be of help!

You might also want to consider the Ryukyu Kingdom (under both Ming and Qing) and the Malacca Sultanate (under Ming).

+1
Level 75
Mar 20, 2021
Yup I'm aware of those, will be adding in the upcoming update
+1
Level 75
May 30, 2021
One word: Money

For the same exact reason emerged all those European colonial powers

+1
Level 22
Jun 5, 2021
Were some areas founded by Zheng He?
+1
Level 75
Jun 15, 2021
Well, not founded, but them being Chinese vassals can be credited to him
+1
Level 47
May 12, 2023
I couldn’t see Bahrain at all
+1
Level 57
Apr 13, 2021
They never controlled ANY of India?
+5
Level 75
Apr 13, 2021
The Qing did hold Arunachal Pradesh, I'm adding that in the upcoming update
+2
Level 87
Sep 8, 2021
China still wants it!
+1
Level 71
Sep 21, 2021
even though they shouldnt have it
+1
Level 55
May 1, 2021
Another one?!
+1
Level 75
May 1, 2021
Funnily, I still haven't gotten to spotlight a single quiz
+3
Level 71
May 1, 2021
Another great quiz! Just out of curiosity, what sources do you draw on for these "All Countries Controlled by ______ People" quizzes? Like do you use Wikipedia, or some channel on Youtube, or another source? I'm asking because I'm considering making a similar kind of quiz and I feel like these quizzes are kinda research-heavy so I just want to know where to start looking.
+5
Level 75
May 1, 2021
Thanks!

For those, I'd scan through empires I already knew and attempt to dig for more through wikipedia

I also use YouTube videos from YouTubers such as Ollie Bye, EmperorTigerStar, Khey Pard and Danzig HD Mapper. They're all great YouTubers with a lot of content on historical maps

+3
Level 71
May 1, 2021
Great, thanks! Also, I see you updated the quiz quite a bit. What's with all the little territories/towns in Arabia, South India, and East Africa? Were they all tributaries at some point? I've never really been aware of any of those regions being under Chinese control so that's cool!
+5
Level 75
May 2, 2021
They were Ming tributaries. The Ming Dynasty once sent out emissaries circa 1400, and many states willingly became tributaries to facilitate trade and relations with the superpower
+2
Level 55
May 1, 2021
Great update! All these high-quality maps that users like you are making make me feel ashamed of myself
+1
Level 75
May 1, 2021
Thanks! But where did the shame part come from? Your quizzes look great ;D
+8
Level 67
May 1, 2021
You forgot the USA.
+3
Level 75
May 2, 2021
My bad
+4
Level 49
Jan 24, 2022
forgot wakanda too
+19
Level 62
May 1, 2021
Could you add a dot for Bahrain? I spent 2 minutes trying to figure out what was missing and still didn't get it.
+1
Level 75
May 2, 2021
I've considered that, but adding a dot would make the quiz much less of a challenge

The quiz itself already eliminated most countries by limiting itself to mostly Asia, so I don't think I'll be adding one, sorry

+5
Level 75
Jun 28, 2021
A total of 270 seconds for 39 answers, giving you a bit over 6.9 seconds per answer. If you've taken CotW, chances are that you can easily name all or at least most of the countries at a decent speed. You're not gonna take 7 seconds to type China or Japan. Also, this map is zoomed in and has naturally eliminated a lot of countries already.

And my point? This is easily doable for most people who look for it thoroughly and I think the amount of time given is pretty generous.

+6
Level 82
Sep 7, 2021
I managed to get this but only because of the alphabetical order of the answers. It's very inconsistent with the rest of the answers, even though, sure, it would make it a lot easier with the dot.

More importantly, though, when the heck did Chinese control Bahrain? I lived there for a few years, went to all the museums, read about the history of the country, and read books about the Chinese Treasure Fleets of the 15th century where I assume many of these dots might have come from, but I never came across anything about Chinese control of Bahrain - a tiny island deep in the Persian Gulf that the Greeks called Tylos, that at various points was controlled by Seluecia, Parthians, Sassanids, and Arabs.. but... the Chinese? Never came across that before.

+2
Level 82
Sep 7, 2021
I'm not saying that it's impossible I'm ignorant on this point, either. I'm just genuinely curious where you got this from because I never heard it before. And my quick Google search now came up with nothing.
+3
Level 87
Sep 8, 2021
There IS a fabulous Chinese restaurant on the west side of Manama. Maybe that's a remnant.
+1
Level 75
Sep 9, 2021
All this was based off this Wiki article. At the time I didn't understand how different was the Chinese tributary system in the past and simply included everything I could find a map on. I'll probably have to remove quite a few of them in the next update
+3
Level 82
Sep 28, 2021
mf3: which one? There were several great authentic Thai restaurants around the city, including one in Juffair I used to visit all the time, but they kept annoyingly shutting down. One of my favorite places was Arirang & Edo in Hoora - wonderful Korean & sushi place. Lots of Asian immigrants in Manama so naturally lots of good restaurants.
+1
Level 66
Sep 10, 2021
Same. Rolled through all of the rest in no time flat and spent over a minute searching, couldn't find it, threw out a couple alphabetical guesses (Azerbaijan), went back to zooming in and finally found it in time.
+1
Level 71
May 26, 2021
Nice job! This is actually kind of hard so it is enjoyable.
+1
Level 75
May 26, 2021
Thanks! *wink wink*
+1
Level 71
May 28, 2021
lol most of these quizzes are sooooo easy but not this one
+1
Level 67
May 29, 2021
1:59 remaining, took me a while to get Georgia
+2
Level 73
Jun 2, 2021
When did China control so much of the subcontinent? Their largest extent would have been upto Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan and maybe Arunachal Pradesh. But, Bengal, Bihar, the rest of the northeast, Burma?

Also, what are those small dots in south India? What about Sri Lanka and the Maldives?

+2
Level 75
Jun 2, 2021
Those were all tributary states of China, mostly during the Ming dynasty
+1
Level 73
Sep 28, 2021
Please remove them. As mentioned below, giving tributes doesn't necessarily mean that they are Chinese. Moreover, we Indians are too proud to have never been invaded by China except cheap items carrying the label 'Made in China' which have literally colonised the entire world. Whatever they took from us is illegal, all thanks to a pesky little neighbour of ours.
+1
Level 75
Sep 28, 2021
I will when I get to update them, which probably won't happen in a while.

Updating featured quizzes generally reset the stats, which could potentially be problematic if done too often.

+1
Level 48
Jun 10, 2021
.
+1
Level 75
Jun 15, 2021
what
+1
Level 66
Sep 28, 2021
.
+1
Level 46
Jul 11, 2021
Great quiz! Nominated
+1
Level 75
Jul 12, 2021
Thanks!
+1
Level 63
Aug 4, 2021
Amazing! We have to get this featured. Nominated :)
+1
Level 56
Aug 11, 2021
I think Hormuz in Iran was a Ming vassal.
+1
Level 75
Aug 17, 2021
It wasn't mentioned here so idk. Do you have a source on that?
+1
Level 56
Aug 24, 2021
I actually remember watching Zheng He visiting Hormuz in Iran. Probably you should add it in a update
+1
Level 75
Aug 26, 2021
The wiki article for the Kingdom of Ormus states that it was a Portuguese vassal
+1
Level 56
Sep 2, 2021
But then it was controlled by the Safavid
+1
Level 75
Sep 3, 2021
what
+1
Level 80
Sep 7, 2021
In this Wikipedia article https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ming_treasure_voyages,

it states in the "seventh voyage" section:

"On 14 September 1433, as recorded in the Xuanzong Shilu, the following envoys came to court to present tribute: (...), King Sa'if-ud-Din of Hormuz sent the foreigner Malazu, (...)."

Albeit, I don't know whether this qualifies as a tributary for the purposes of this quiz.

+1
Level 75
Sep 9, 2021
Hmm alright, I'll have a look into it and decide what I'll do with it along with all the others in the next update. Thanks
+1
Level 85
Sep 6, 2021
Chin Pak was ethnic Chinese and was born in China. His son, Sir Julius Chan, was Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea. Does that make Papua New Guinea a country that was controlled by Chinese people (or person)?
+1
Level 74
Sep 6, 2021
No, I don't think so
+2
Level 75
Sep 9, 2021
I don't think being the leader necessarily means controlling a state
+1
Level 95
Sep 7, 2021
Great quiz! Only one I got stumped on was Oman cus I didn't see the territory there at first, but this was very enjoyable.
+1
Level 80
Sep 7, 2021
Can only agree with the others, great quiz!
+3
Level 70
Sep 9, 2021
ah great quiz! but don't think giving tribute counts as "controlling" the whole concept of tributary states and vassal states were a bit different for china...
+1
Level 75
Sep 9, 2021
Yeah I probably should've gone deeper before releasing this update, it's really confusing and wikipedia lacks data on this topic
+1
Level 78
Sep 15, 2021
What about Arthur Chung, an ethnic Chinese man who ruled Guyana from 1970 to 1980.
+1
Level 75
Sep 28, 2021
I don't think being the president counts as controlling an entire country.
+1
Level 70
Sep 28, 2021
Aren't most singaporean leaders chinese as well?
+1
Level 75
Sep 28, 2021
I'm adding Singapore when I'll get to update this.

I missed the fact that Singapore is over 75% Chinese when mapping this

+1
Level 41
Sep 28, 2021
How about one for all of the countries the CCP thinks are part of China but aren't?
+1
Level 75
Sep 28, 2021
Doubt it will have that many answers, so probably not

Anyway, this quiz exists if you want anything similar

+1
Level 41
Sep 29, 2021
Perfect. Thank you.
+3
Level 57
Sep 28, 2021
I enjoyed this quiz thoroughly, but I think it's a stretch to say that being a tributary counts as being under Chinese control, even partially. Many empires throughout history have been each other's tributaries. Are we to say that Sweden was under the control of Algeria by this same reasoning?
+2
Level 69
Sep 28, 2021
I agree, it's incorrect.
+1
Level 75
Sep 28, 2021
Yeah, I'm aware of that. I'll remove the incorrect ones when I'll update it in the future. Thanks
+1
Level 51
Dec 9, 2022
When was sweden a tributary to algeria?
+1
Level 71
Sep 28, 2021
Sorry, but how do tributary states count as being controlled by Chinese people?
+2
Level 57
Sep 28, 2021
Tributary states clearly don't count as countries controlled by Chinese people, as even the source material behind the quiz emphasizes (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tributary_states_of_China):

"Under the Ming dynasty, countries that wanted to have any form of relationship with China, political, economic or otherwise, had to enter the tribute system. As a result, tribute was often paid for opportunistic reasons rather than as a serious gesture of allegiance to the Chinese emperor, and the mere fact that tribute was paid may not be understood in a way that China had political leverage over its tributary"

This should be renamed!! As such it's unworthy of its star.

+2
Level 75
Sep 28, 2021
I sort of rushed when updating this and I missed the part on how tributaries of Ming worked, I'll have to remove a good load of them when I make a new map
+1
Level 44
Jun 8, 2022
Has your project to update this been abandoned? It seems to me you could change the title to something like 'Countries which sent tribute missions to Imperial China' and be on firmer footing.

As it stands, its a mess. An interesting mess, but a mess.

+1
Level 75
Dec 11, 2022
Nope, it's just that I'm in my senior year currently. School and university applications are taking up loads of my time.

Hopefully will get back to updating this series at some point

+1
Level 75
Sep 28, 2021
Maldives: nope.
+3
Level 63
Sep 28, 2021
Can we get a circle or something around Bahrain? Its very difficult to find. I had to figure it out looking at the list alphabetically
+1
Level 75
Sep 28, 2021
I've stated a few times that I won't be adding a dot for Bahrain. But, since a lot of people seem to struggle with it, I might as well add a light water area around it in the future (if it doesn't get removed as an answer, of course) to make it more visible.
+1
Level 63
Sep 28, 2021
I clearly need to brush up on my Chinese history as I had no idea that they had a presence in several of these places. Fascinating quiz!
+1
Level 54
Sep 28, 2021
singapore?
+1
Level 75
Sep 30, 2021
As stated in the comments above, it will be added for the upcoming update (which won't happen too soon as this quiz is featured)
+1
Level 45
Sep 29, 2021
I would've missed Bahrain, but I looked at the alphabetical order :D
+1
Level 72
Oct 1, 2021
Excellent quiz, and learnt quite a bit too from the map and reading the comments. It was a challenge and fun, thank you.
+1
Level 64
Oct 3, 2021
sneaky Bahrain!

Thanks!

+2
Level 55
Oct 4, 2021
I think Bahrain needs a dot - I couldn't see it even when the answers were shown!
+1
Level 75
Oct 4, 2021
As stated above, a light-water area will be added in the upcoming update if Bahrain does not get removed
+1
Level 74
Dec 16, 2021
No need to change anything just because of Bahrain. If you get stuck, just look at the map and think of a country that can fit between Afghanistan and Bangladesh alphabetically.
+3
Level 43
Jan 11, 2022
Please put a circle on Bahrain
+1
Level 47
Jan 16, 2022
Why is there a blank spot in between Bangladesh, Northeast India and Myanmar, iI would like to know the history behind this
+1
Level 52
Feb 7, 2022
missed China, really tricky
+1
Level 51
May 10, 2022
When did China colonize africa?
+1
Level 44
Jun 8, 2022
They didn't. They sent trade/diplomatic missions to Africa in the 15th century (google the voyages of Zheng He), but they never controlled any of those territories.
+1
Level 56
May 12, 2022
Is there a way you can tell us when they occupied these places? I would really like to know!
+1
Level 44
Jun 8, 2022
Most of them were never, in fact, occupied.
+1
Level 37
Aug 21, 2022
Japan???
+1
Level 37
Aug 21, 2022
Japanese aren’t Chinese people
+1
Level 45
Jan 13, 2023
It is Chinese tributary.
+1
Level 44
Dec 9, 2022
when did the chinese people got to uae, africa and caucasia?
+1
Level 64
Apr 29, 2023
38/39 missed bahrain
+1
Level 55
Apr 30, 2023
When they controlled Bangladesh?? When??
+1
Level 35
May 5, 2023
i got 38/39, missed the maldieves
+1
Level 78
Aug 15, 2023
Great quiz but it is basically name as many modern states in Asia as you can.