... yes!
To preface, I am not an art historian but I can probably explain some of the basics.
Portrait work and more broadly, images of human subjects varied quite a lot in Chinese history. The first 'portrait' of Zhu Geliang from his wiki is somewhat realistic in that it does look like a normal human face, but it most certainly was not a life portrait and it has some pretty noticeable stylistic alterations which are common in some Chinese portraits. It is quite different from the much more realistic portrait of an aged Ming dynasty woman, another example of Chinese portrait work. Looking at the body of surviving portraits painted in the late imperial era shows us that some painters would often incorporate stylistic elements in their artwork at the expense of realism but also as time progressed, the stylistic elements in the art itself changed. Basically, I think it's not really helpful to think of Chinese painting and portraiture as one single movement where artists were either creating realistic works or they weren't.
I just want to touch a little bit upon the stylistic choices one might encounter in Chinese portraits, and then also provide some examples of more realistic art as well, just to show the contrast. Take a look at this portrait of the third Ming emperor, the Yongle Emperor. I'm pretty sure this work is a posthumous portrait, although I can't recall for certain but irrespective of its temporal relation to the emperor's life, there are clearly stylistic elements incorporated into the work. The emperor has very pronounced nasolabial folds, giving him a more aged and wise, perhaps sagely appearance. His robe is also decorated with a classic piece of late Imperial Chinese drip, the dragon roundel which shines through his long, probably exaggerated beard. The facial hair itself is a symbol of wisdom and probably ties back to a teaching stemming from Confucianism which extolled men who did not trim their facial hair as exemplars of filial piety. He has whiskers, a long moustache, and a three-part beard which extends will past his chest. Lastly for immediately obvious elements, the Yongle Emperor has very large and round earlobes, which may be a symbol tying back to Buddhist artworks. The Yongle Emperor was definitely an admirer of Buddhism as his father - once a Buddhist monk before becoming emperor of China - may have passed some religious heterodoxy onto the Yongle Emperor while he was still a young man. In Buddhist art, it is not uncommon at all to see important figures drawn with large or exaggerated earlobes as symbols of their enlightenment and so to pay tribute to an emperor who may have been involved in some way with Buddhist beliefs would not be too much of a stretch. Even though the Yongle Emperor's portrait is not a completely faithful rendition of the emperor in life, it is still more realistic than some of the more stylized portraits which were made of important Chinese figures. Compare the first portrait to this portrait of the Yongle emperor, from an 18th century Qing-era collection of portraits of Chinese emperors and other notables. Obviously the second one much more stylized, with an ornately decorated crown, colorful robe, and even more stylized facial hair. In this portrait, the enlarged ears of wisdom are also notable in addition to other stylized facial features (such as the fierce eyes and eyebrows). For more reading, there is this paper on Song dynasty 'portraits' of Confucius and his disciples which were heavily stylized for political purposes. Before I show some of the more realistic ones out there, I want to finish the stylized works with a famous painting of the Qianlong emperor which showcases some stylistic elements which aren't simply just altering the physical features of the subject. Created by Jesuit Giuseppe Castiglione and Chinese painter Ding Guanpeng, this painting shows the Qianlong emperor (white robes, black hat, immediately noticeable) seated while admiring a painted scroll. Like in many stylized pieces of Chinese painting, the most important figure in the piece (obviously the emperor) is painted larger than his attendants, including the grown eunuchs in black hats (one to the left of the painting behind the table and one holding the scroll on the right side of the painting). The emperor himself is also wearing something quite unusual: Han Chinese-style scholarly robes instead of normal Qing imperial garb. The choice of garments in the painting is not necessarily a reflection of the emperor's actual clothing tastes in life but more a subtle hint to show that the emperor is wise, sagely, and partaking in a venerable and scholarly pastime. To cement the emperor's status as a gentlemen, there is a carefully curated selection of wares on the table to his right.^(1)
With that being said, there were of course, also more realistic portraits which were made in the late imperial era. The above mentioned portrait of the old, Ming noblewoman is one example and it carries far less stylistic flair than any of the emperor's portraits, even though the woman would have been relatively high ranking within society. Of note is her blue robe, or yuanlingshan, the formal court uniform of the civil officials which controlled the Chinese bureaucracy. She wears her husband's (or late husband's, given her advanced age) rank and with the blue robe, it indicates that she was married to a low-mid grade official. There are also these portraits of very senior Ming officials as indicated by their red robes. These portraits are all strikingly lifelike, especially the one from the Nanjing museum in my opinion. They all show older gentlemen, faces worn with age and no doubt by decades of long service to the empire. There aren't really elements of excessive ornamentation in their portraits either, besides maybe indicators of rank and status (rank squares, red robes, the famous wushamao).
So to summarize, there are indeed stylized portraits. There are also much more realistic portraits. Some are a mix. Chinese portraiture was very varied and fascinating, and is definitely a field I would like to delve into at greater depth myself.
Quick correction on the Castiglione/Ding painting: the Qianlong emperor is wearing a Han Chinese scholar's hat but what appear to be Buddhist robes, not the shenyi I was thinking of.
