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