| Janet | Austen | English novelist. |
| Tang Jia | Bao | Wei's acquaintance. |
| Mr. | Boyd | Wei's colleague. |
| Dr. | Brancusi | A physician. |
| George H. W. | Bush | 41st President of the United States. |
| Johnny | Carson | American talk show host and magician. |
| Jimmy | Carter | 39th U.S. President. |
| Deepak | Chahar | Indian Cricket player. |
| Sister | Chen | One of the church members. |
| Madame | Chiang | The wife of Generalissimo and President Chiang Kai-shek. |
| Liu | Chieh | The last Permanent Representative of the Republic of China at the UN. |
| Ching | Ching | Zhee Hyan's girlfriend. |
| Chiang | Ching-kuo | Eldest and only biological son of former president Chiang Kai-shek. |
| Aunty | Chu | One of Li Min's relatives. |
| Chun | Chun | A singer. |
| Dowager | Cixi | Chinese empress dowager. |
| Zhou | Enlai | 1st Premier of the People's Republic of China. |
| Marianne | Faithfull | British singer, songwriter and actress. |
| Francisco | Franco | Ruled Spain as a military dictator from 1939 until his death. |
| John | Fraser | Scottish actor and author. |
| Du | Fu | Chinese poet and politician of the Tang dynasty. |
| Paul | Gauguin | French Post-Impressionist artist. |
| Graham | Greene | An actor and writer. |
| Lu Ai | Guo | A liaison for the ROC consulate. |
| Su Ming | Guo | Dr. Tsai's very good friend. |
| Adolf | Hitler | The leader of Nazi Germany. |
| Liou Kai | Hsiang | A fisherman. |
| Professor | Hsiao | One of Dr. Tsai's acquaintances. |
| Qiong | Hua | Jia Bao's wife. |
| Yi | Hua | A waitress. |
| Olivia | Hussey | English actress. |
| Dua | Hyan | Li Min's older son. |
| Zhee | Hyan | Li Min's younger son. |
| Mick | Jagger | English songwriter, singer of The Rolling Stones. |
| Mark | Jenson | An AIT employee. |
| James | Joyce | Irish novelist, short story writer, poet, teacher, and literary critic. |
| Chiang | Kai-shek | A Chinese political and military leader. aka: Generalissimo. |
| Robert F. | Kennedy | American politician and lawyer. aka: Bobby. |
| Martin Luther | King Jr. | African American Baptist minister and activist. |
| Henry A. | Kissinger | U.S. Secretary of State. |
| Yang | Kuei-fei | The infamous concubine. |
| Tsai | Li Ka | Li Min's eldest daughter. aka: Ah Zhay. |
| Wei | Lin | Naomi's son. |
| Henry | Liu | Taiwanese writer. |
| Ah | Lu | Zhee Hyan's classmate. |
| Jia | Lun | Ah Zhay's son. |
| Jia | Lung | Jia Bao's son. |
| Rene | Magritte | Belgian surrealist artist. |
| Karl | Marx | German philosopher, economist, sociologist, journalist. |
| Dave | Matson | A therapist. |
| Steve | McQueen | American actor. |
| Jeng Li | Min | A painter. aka: Ah Bin. |
| Peng | Ming-min | A democracy activist, advocate of Taiwan independence. |
| Joni | Mitchell | Canadian musician. |
| Richard | Nixon | 37th President of the United States. |
| Jacqueline | Onassis | Former First Lady of the United States. |
| Professor | Ong | Jia Bao's acquaintance. |
| Aunty | Owyang | Uncle Owyang's wife. |
| Uncle | Owyang | The grandparents' neighbor. |
| Dolly | Parton | American singer-songwriter and actress. |
| Pablo | Picasso | Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist. |
| Cheng | Ping | Narrator's classmate. |
| Mr. | Ping | One of the interrogators. |
| Marcel | Proust | A writer. |
| Thomas | Pynchon | American novelist. |
| Mona | Rudao | The son of a chief of the Seediq tribe of Taiwanese aborigines. |
| Mr. | Sasaki | A high school teacher. |
| Dr. | Seuss | American children's writer and illustrator. |
| William | Shakespeare | English playwright and poet. |
| Huang | Shih-hui | A writer. |
| Wei | Shin | Aunty Wong's daughter. |
| Dr. | Sloan | A physician. |
| Dr. | Sun | Owned a medical clinic. |
| Benjamin | Sutton | Mr. Jenson's colleague. |
| Teresa | Teng | Taiwanese singer. |
| Zhan | Tian-ma | A popular silent film narrator. |
| Ting | Ting | Narrator's friend. |
| Dr. | Tsai | Li Min's husband. aka Baba. |
| Sister | Tsai | One of the church members. |
| Lin | Wang | An elephant. |
| Chen | Wen-cheng | A Carnegie Mellon University professor. |
| Aunty | Wong | One of Li Min's relatives. |
| Uncle | Wong | Aunty Wong's husband. |
| Professor | Wu | One of Dr. Tsai's acquaintances. |
| Deng | Yan | Ah Zhay's husband. aka: Jie-fu. |
| Bo | Yang | Chinese author. |
| Mr. | Yang | One of the interrogators. |
| Sun | Yat-sen | Chinese physician, politician and revolutionary. |
| Hsiao | Yen | Narrator's best friend. |
| Chen | Yi | The Governor-General. |
| Lin | Yi-hsiung | The major leader of the democratization movement in Taiwan. |
| Huang | Ying Cheng | Wei's acquaintance. |
| Brother | Yu | One of the church members. |
| Mao | Zedong | Former Chairman of People's Republic of China. |
| Brother | Zhang | One of the church members. |
| Jia | Zhe | Ah Zhay's son. |
| Ah Gong | | Li Min's father. |
| Ah Ma | | Li Min's mother. |
| Amy | | Emily's friend. |
| Cheung | | A midwife. |
| Confucius | | Chinese teacher, editor, politician and philosopher. |
| Eddie | | Ting Ting's fiancé. |
| Emily | | Stephanie's older sister. |
| Helen | | James' wife. |
| James | | Wei's friend. |
| Janet | | A waitress. |
| Lin | | Naomi's husband. |
| Lorraine | | The general's wife. |
| Mary | | Stephanie's teacher. |
| Matsu | | A sea goddess in Chinese folk religion. |
| Mei Mei | | Ah Zhay's daughter. |
| Melody | | Jia Bao's daughter. |
| Naomi | | Li Min's acquaintance. |
| Pam | | Wei's neighbor. |
| Rebecca | | Stephanie's classmate. |
| Sam | | Narrator's acquaintance. |
| Stephanie | | Wei's youngest daughter. |
| Yaru | | Mei Mei's daughter. |
| Yu | | Wei's dead son. |
