This report catalogs 651 soybean cultivars developed between 1923 and 1995 in the People's Republic of China. It provides soybean breeders with the origin, distribution, description, and pedigree of Chinese soybean cultivars as a practical guide for the selection of good parental material and the preservation of genetic diversity in breeding programs. Information includes cultivar name, its prior designation as a breeding line, year of release, province and institution where the cultivar was developed, breeding method employed in development, area for which the cultivar was released, recommended planting time and cropping system, days to maturity, flower color, colors of pubescence, seed coat, hilum, and cotyledon, 100-seed weight, protein and oil content, stem termination type, pod shattering, primary use, number of seeds per pod, and resistance to diseases and insects. Pedigrees trace the cultivars back to their ancestors—landraces, exotic introductions, and a few cases of unknown strains. The 341 ancestors of Chinese cultivars are also described and the relations of improved cultivars to each of the ancestors are illustrated.