The China Biographical Database (CBDB) is a freely accessible relational database with biographical information on approximately 470,000 individuals as of May 2020, primarily from the 7th to the 19th centuries. With online and offline versions, the data should be useful for statistics, social networks and spatial analysis, in addition to serving as a kind of biographical reference. The long-term goal of the CBDB is to systematically include all significant biographical material from the historical record of China and make the content available free of charge, without restrictions, for academic use. These data are regularly enriched and new biographical entries are being created for the Tang, Five Dynasties, Liao, Song, Jin, Yuan, Ming and Qing figures. The CBDB originates from the work of Robert M. Hartwell (1932–1996). Professor Hartwell bequeathed his property, including the first version of this database, to the Harvard-Yenching Institute, which ceded his property.