| Pro | Li | Du | Chinese scholar; a librarian. |
| | Etienne | Laporte | A gardener. |
| | Sun | King | King of France. |
| 1 | Kalden | Dorjee | A caravan owner. |
| 2 | Kangxi | | Emperor of China. |
| | Norbu | | Caravan's cook. |
| | Yeshe | | Former farmer. |
| | Doso | Targum | The manor lord. |
| 3 | Kamala | | Doso Targum's wife. |
| | Chhoshe | | A monk. |
| | Pema | | Doso's adoptive son. |
| | Dhamo | | A painter. |
| | Hamzu | | Li Du's friend. |
| 4 | Rinzen | Ngawang | A dignitary from Lhasa. |
| | Andruk | | A translator and guide to the foreign monk. |
| | Sangyal | | One of Doso's children. |
| | Tara | | One of Doso's children. |
| | Tenzin | | One of Doso's children. |
| | Tashi | | Doso's first born child. |
| | Sonam | Dhargey | Doso's old friend. |
| | Shu | Tongjian | Li Du's teacher. |
| | Galdan | | Leader of the Dzungar Mongols. |
| 5 | Lhasang | Khan | Ruler of the Qoshud Mongols. |
| | Dalai | Lama | Spiritual and temporal ruler of Tibet. |
| | Sera | | One of the guests at Doso's house. |
| 7 | Paolo | Campo | A religious man. |
| | Prester | John | A legendary Christian patriarch. |
| | Saint Francis | | A saint. |
| | Achille | de Spiritu | Paolo Campo's friend. |
| 8 | Judge | Del | A magistrate. |
| 10 | Lumo | | Once a traveler known as the grandmother of the forest. |
| 15 | Tai | Ming-shih | A writer. |
| | Song | Taizu | Founder and first emperor of the Song Dynasty. |
| 18 | Mara | | Pema's grandmother. |
| | Moses | | A prophet. |
| 19 | Trisong | Detsen | Emperor of Tibet. |
| | Kalsang | Samten | First patriarch of Doso's family. |
| | Samten | Lobsang | Former Buddhist monk. |
| 20 | Karma | | Doso's first wife. |
| 22 | Li | Shan | Qing dynasty painter. |
| | Xia | Gui | Chinese painter. |
| 27 | Genghis | Khan | Khagan of the Mongol Empire. |
| 30 | Duan | | Student who did not sleep for three days for his final exam. |
