Born to a peasant family inGuangdong, Sun was educated overseas inHawaii and returned to China to graduate from medical school inHong Kong. He led undergroundanti-Qing revolutionaries inSouth China, theUnited Kingdom, andJapan as one of theFour Bandits and rose to prominence as the founder of multipleresistance movements, including theRevive China Society and theTongmenghui. He is considered one of the most important figures of modern China, and his political life campaigning againstManchu rule in favor of a Chinese republic featured constant struggles and frequent periods of exile.
Sun's genealogical name wasSun Deming (Cantonese:Syūn Dāk-mìhng;孫德明).[4][5] As a child, hismilk name was Tai Tseung (Dai-jeuhng;帝象).[4] In school, a teacher gave him the nameSun Wen (Syūn Màhn;孫文), which was used by Sun for most of his life. Sun'scourtesy name was Zaizhi (Jai-jī;載之), and his baptized name was Rixin (Yaht-sān;日新).[6] While at school inBritish Hong Kong, he got theart name Yat-sen (逸仙;Yìxiān).[7]Sun Zhongshan (Syūn Jūng-sāan;孫中山, also romanizedChung Shan), the most popular of his Chinese names in China, is derived from hisJapanese nameKikori Nakayama (中山樵;Nakayama Kikori), the pseudonym given to him byTōten Miyazaki when he was in hiding in Japan.[4] His birthplace city was renamedZhongshan in his honour likely shortly after his death in 1925. Zhongshan is one of the fewcities named after people in China and has remained the official name of the city during Communist rule.
Sun Yat-sen (back row, fourth from right) and his family
During his stay in Honolulu, Sun began his education at the age of 10,[4] attending secondary school in Hawaii.[16] In 1878, after receiving a few years of local schooling, a 13-year-old Sun went to live with his elder brotherSun Mei,[4] who would later make major contributions to overthrowing theQing dynasty, and who financed Sun's attendance of theʻIolani School.[12][13][14][15] There, he studied English,British history, mathematics, science, and Christianity.[4] Sun was initially unable to speak English, but quickly acquired it, received a prize for academic achievement from KingKalākaua, and graduated in 1882.[17] He then attendedOahu College (now known asPunahou School) for one semester.[4][18] By 1883, Sun's interest in Christianity had become deeply worrisome for his brother—who, seeing his conversion as inevitable, sent Sun back to China.[4]
Upon returning to China, a 17-year-old Sun met with his childhood friend Lu Haodong at the Beiji Temple (北極殿) in Cuiheng,[4] where villagers engaged in traditionalfolk healing and worshipped aneffigy of theNorth Star God. Feeling contemptuous of these practices,[4] Sun and Lu incurred the wrath of their fellow villagers by breaking the wooden idol; as a result, Sun's parents felt compelled to dispatch him to Hong Kong.[4][19] In November 1883, Sun began attending the Diocesan Home and Orphanage onEastern Street (now theDiocesan Boys' School),[20][21] and from 15 April 1884 he attended The Government Central School onGough Street (nowQueen's College), until graduating in 1886.[22][23]
In the early 1880s, Sun Mei had sent his brother to ʻIolani School, which was under the supervision of theChurch of Hawaii and directed by anAnglican prelate,Alfred Willis, with the language of instruction being English. At the school, the young Sun first came in contact with Christianity.
In 1891, Sun met revolutionary friends in Hong Kong includingYeung Ku-wan who was the leader and founder of theFuren Literary Society.[35] The group was spreading the idea of overthrowing the Qing. In 1894, Sun wrote an 8,000-character petition to QingViceroyLi Hongzhang presenting his ideas for modernizing China.[36][37][38] He traveled toTianjin to personally present the petition to Li but was not granted an audience.[39] After that experience, Sun turned irrevocably toward revolution. He left China for Hawaii and founded theRevive China Society, which was committed to revolutionizing China's prosperity. It was the first Chinese nationalist revolutionary society.[40] Members were drawn mainly from Chinese expatriates, especially from the lower social classes. The same month in 1894, the Furen Literary Society was merged with the Hong Kong chapter of the Revive China Society.[35] Thereafter, Sun became the secretary of the newly merged Revive China Society, which Yeung Ku-wan headed as president.[41] They disguised their activities in Hong Kong under the running of a business under the name "Kuen Hang Club"[42]: 90 (乾亨行).
Heaven and Earth Society and overseas travels to seek financial support
A "Heaven and Earth Society" sect known asTiandihui had been around for a long time.[43] The group has also been referred to as the "three cooperating organizations", as well as thetriads.[43] Sun mainly used the group to leverage his overseas travels to gain further financial and resource support for his revolution.[43]
In 1895, China suffered a serious defeat during theFirst Sino-Japanese War. There were two types of responses. One group of intellectuals contended that theManchu Qing government could restore its legitimacy by successfully modernizing.[44] Stressing that overthrowing the Manchu would result in chaos and would lead to China being carved up by imperialists, intellectuals likeKang Youwei andLiang Qichao supported responding with initiatives like theHundred Days' Reform.[44] In another faction, Sun Yat-sen and others likeZou Rong wanted a revolution to replace the dynastic system with a modernnation-state in the form of arepublic.[44] The Hundred Days' reform turned out to be a failure by 1898.[45]
Plaque inLondon marking the site of a house at 4 Warwick Court, WC1, in which Sun Yat-sen lived in exileLetter from Sun Yat-sen toJames Cantlie announcing to him that he has assumed the Presidency of the Provisional Republican Government of China, dated 21 January 1912
In the second year of the establishment of the Revive China Society, on 26 October 1895, the group planned and launched theFirst Guangzhou uprising against the Qing inGuangzhou.[37]Yeung Ku-wan directed the uprising starting from Hong Kong.[41] However, plans were leaked out, and more than 70 members, includingLu Haodong, were captured by the Qing government. The uprising was a failure. Sun received financial support mostly from his brother, who sold most of his 12,000 acres of ranch and cattle in Hawaii.[12] Additionally, members of his family and relatives of Sun would take refuge at the home of his brother Sun Mei at Kamaole inKula,Maui.[12][13][14][15][46]
While in exile inLondon in 1896, Sun raised money for his revolutionary party and to support uprisings in China. While the events leading up to it are unclear, Sun Yat-sen was detained at theChinese Legation in London, where the Chinese secret service planned to smuggle him back to China to execute him for his revolutionary actions.[47] He was released after 12 days by the efforts ofJames Cantlie,The Globe,The Times, and theForeign Office, which left Sun a hero in the United Kingdom.[c] James Cantlie, Sun's former teacher at the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese, maintained a lifelong friendship with Sun and later wrote an early biography of him[49] Sun wrote a book in 1897 about his detention, "Kidnapped in London."[24]
The bronze plaque of Sun is currently mounted on an outside wall of the building of "City Junior School" at 4 Gray's Inn Place.
During thePhilippine Revolution and thePhilippine–American War, Sun helped Ponce procure weapons that had been salvaged from theImperial Japanese Army and ship the weapons to the Philippines. By helping the Philippine Republic, Sun hoped that the Filipinos would retain their independence so that he could be sheltered in the country in staging another Chinese revolution. However, as the war ended in July 1902, the United States emerged victorious from a bitter three-year war against the Republic. Therefore, Sun did not have the opportunity to ally with the Philippines in his revolution in China.[52]
In 1897, through an introduction byMiyazaki Toten, Sun Yat-sen metTōyama Mitsuru of the political organizationGenyosha. Through Tōyama, he received financial support for his activities and living expenses in Tokyo fromHiraoka Kotarō [ja]. Additionally, his residence, a 2,000-square-meter mansion in Waseda-Tsurumaki-cho, was arranged byInukai Tsuyoshi.
In 1899, theBoxer Rebellion occurred.[53] The following year, Sun Yat-sen attempted another uprising in Huizhou, but it ended in failure. In 1902, despite already having a wife in China, he married theJapanese teenage girlKaoru Otsuki.[54] Furthermore, he keptAsada Haru [ja] as a mistress and frequently had her accompany him.
On 22 October 1900, Sun ordered the launch of theHuizhou Uprising to attackHuizhou and provincial authorities in Guangdong.[55] That came five years after the failed Guangzhou Uprising. This time, Sun appealed to thetriads for help.[56] The uprising was another failure. Miyazaki, who participated in the revolt with Sun, wrote an account of the revolutionary effort under the title "33-Year Dream" (三十三年之夢) in 1902.[57][58][59]
In 1903, Sun made a secret trip toBangkok in which he sought funds for his cause in Southeast Asia. His loyal followers published newspapers, providing invaluable support to the dissemination of his revolutionary principles and ideals amongSiamese Chinese inSiam. In Bangkok, Sun visitedYaowarat Road, in the city'sChinatown. On that street, Sun gave a speech claiming thatOverseas Chinese were "the Mother of the Revolution." He also met the local Chinese merchant Seow Houtseng,[60] who sent financial support to him.
Sun's speech on Yaowarat Road was commemorated by the street later being named "Sun Yat Sen Street" or "Soi Sun Yat Sen" (Thai:ซอยซุนยัตเซ็น) in his honour.[61]
According to Lee Yun-ping, chairman of the Chinese historical society, Sun needed a certificate to enter the United States since theChinese Exclusion Act of 1882 would have otherwise blocked him.[62]
In March 1904, while residing inKula,Maui, Sun Yat-sen obtained a Certificate of Hawaiian Birth, issued by theTerritory of Hawaii, stating that "he was born in theHawaiian Islands on the 24th day of November, A.D. 1870."[63][64] He renounced it after it served its purpose to circumvent the Chinese Exclusion Act.[64] Official files of the United States show that Sun had United States nationality, moved to China with his family at age 4, and returned to Hawaii 10 years later.[65]
On 6 April 1904, on his first attempt to enter the United States, Sun Yat-sen landed inSan Francisco. He was detained and faced with possible deportation.[62] Sun, represented by the law firm of Ralston & Siddons, based inWashington DC, filed an appeal with the Commissioner-General of Immigration on 26 April 1904. On 28 April 1904, the acting secretary of theDepartment of Commerce and Labor in a four-page decision contained in the case file, set aside the order of deportation and ordered the Commissioner of Immigration in San Francisco to "permit the said Sun Yat-sen to land." Sun was then freed to embark on his fundraising tour in the United States.[62]
In 1900, Sun Yat-sen temporarilyexiled himself to Japan again. During his stay in Japan, he expressed his thoughts toInukai Tsuyoshi, saying, "TheMeiji Restoration is the first step of the Chinese revolution, and the Chinese revolution is the second step of the Meiji Restoration."[66]
Around 1915, Sun marriedSoong Ching-ling, the second daughter of Soong Jiashu, who was also a Hakka like him. There are various theories about the year of their marriage, but it is generally believed to have taken place between1913 and1916 while Sun was exiled in Japan. The arrangement of their marriage was supported byUmeya Shokichi, a Japanese supporter who provided financial aid.[67][68]
Fusanosuke Kuhara, a prominent figure in Japan's political and business circles, invited Sun to his villa, the Nihonkan, located where the current restaurant "Kochuan" in Shirokane Happo-en stands. Kuhara offered Sun the newly built "Orchid Room" to encourage and support his friend living in a foreign land.
The Orchid Room was equipped with a secret escape route known as "Sun Yat-sen's Escape Passage." This precautionary measure included a hidden door behind the fireplace, which led to an underground tunnel, providing an escape route in case of emergencies.
A letter with Sun's seal commencing theTongmenghui in Hong Kong
In 1904, Sun Yat-sen came about with the goal "to expel theTatar barbarians (specifically, the Manchu), to reviveZhonghua, to establish a Republic, and todistribute land equally among the people" (驅除韃虜, 恢復中華, 創立民國, 平均地權).[69] One of Sun's major legacies was the creation of his political philosophy of theThree Principles of the People. These Principles included the principle of nationalism (minzu,民族), of democracy (minquan,民權), and of welfare (minsheng,民生).[69]
On 20 August 1905, Sun joined forces with revolutionary Chinese students studying in Tokyo to form the unified groupTongmenghui (United League), which sponsored uprisings in China.[69][70] By 1906 the number of Tongmenghui members reached 963.[69]
Sun's notability and popularity extended beyond theGreater China region, particularly toNanyang (Southeast Asia), where a large concentration ofoverseas Chinese resided inMalaya (Malaysia and Singapore). In Singapore, he met the local Chinese merchants Teo Eng Hock (張永福), Tan Chor Nam (陳楚楠) and Lim Nee Soon (林義順), which mark the commencement of direct support from theNanyang Chinese. The Singapore chapter of the Tongmenghui was established on 6 April 1906,[72] but some records claim the founding date to be end of 1905.[72] Thevilla used by Sun was known asWan Qing Yuan.[72][73] Singapore then was the headquarters of the Tongmenghui.[72]
After founding the Tongmenghui, Sun advocated the establishment of theChong Shing Yit Pao as the alliance's mouthpiece to promote revolutionary ideas. Later, he initiated the establishment of reading clubs across Singapore and Malaysia to disseminate revolutionary ideas by the lower class through public readings of newspaper stories. The United Chinese Library, founded on 8 August 1910, was one such reading club, first set up at leased property on the second floor of the Wan He Salt Traders in North Boat Quay.[74]
The first actual United Chinese Library building was built between 1908 and 1911 below Fort Canning, on 51 Armenian Street, and commenced operations in 1912. The library was set up as a part of the 50 reading rooms by the Chinese republicans to serve as an information station and liaison point for the revolutionaries. In 1987, the library was moved to its present site at Cantonment Road.
Because of the failures, Sun's leadership was challenged by elements from within the Tongmenghui who wished to remove him as leader. In Tokyo, members from the recently mergedRestoration society raised doubts about Sun's credentials.[72]Tao Chengzhang andZhang Binglin publicly denounced Sun in an open leaflet, "A declaration of Sun Yat-sen's Criminal Acts by the Revolutionaries in Southeast Asia",[72] which was printed and distributed in reformist newspapers likeNanyang Zonghui Bao.[72][77] The goal was to target Sun as a leader leading a revolt only forprofiteering.[72]
The revolutionaries were polarized and split between pro-Sun and anti-Sun camps.[72] Sun publicly fought off comments about how he had something to gain financially from the revolution.[72] However, by 19 July 1910, the Tongmenghui headquarters had to relocate from Singapore to Penang to reduce the anti-Sun activities.[72] It was also in Penang that Sun and his supporters would launch the first Chinese "daily" newspaper, theKwong Wah Yit Poh, in December 1910.[75]
To sponsor more uprisings, Sun made a personal plea for financial aid at thePenang conference, held on 13 November 1910 in Malaya.[78] The high-powered preparatory meeting of Sun's supporters was subsequently held in Ipoh, Singapore, at the villa of Teh Lay Seng, the chairman of the Tungmenghui, to raise funds for theHuanghuagang Uprising, also known as the Yellow Flower Mound Uprising.[79] The Ipoh leaders were Teh Lay Seng, Wong I Ek, Lee Guan Swee, and Lee Hau Cheong.[80] The leaders launched a major drive for donations across theMalay Peninsula[78] and raisedHK$187,000.[78]
On 27 April 1911, the revolutionaryHuang Xing led theYellow Flower Mound Uprising against the Qing. The revolt failed and ended in disaster. The bodies of only 72 revolutionaries were identified of the 86 that were found.[81] The revolutionaries are remembered asmartyrs.[81]Despite the failure of this uprising, which was due to a leak, it was successful in triggering off the trend of nation-wide revolts.[82]
On 10 October 1911, the militaryWuchang Uprising took place and was led again by Huang Xing. The uprising expanded to theXinhai Revolution, also known as the "Chinese Revolution", to overthrow the last emperor,Puyi.[83] Sun had no direct involvement in it, as he was inDenver,Colorado, and had spent much of the year in the United States in search of support fromChinese Americans. That put Huang in charge of the revolution that ended over 2000 years of imperial rule in China. On 12 October, when Sun learned of the successful rebellion against the Qing emperor from press reports, he returned to China from the United States and was accompanied by his closest foreign advisor, the American "General"Homer Lea, an adventurer whom Sun had met in London when they attempted to arrange British financing for the future Chinese republic. Both sailed for China, arriving there on 21 December 1911.[84]
On 29 December 1911, a meeting of representatives from provinces in Nanjing elected Sun as theprovisional president.[85] 1 January 1912 was set as theepoch of the newrepublican calendar.[86]Li Yuanhong was made provisional vice-president, and Huang Xing became the minister of the army. It was argued Sun was a 'compromise candidate' to end an impasse and power struggle between Li Yuanhong and Huang Xing over the role of the Generalissimo.[87] A newprovisional government for the Republic of China was created, along with aprovisional constitution. Sun is credited for funding the revolutions and for keeping revolutionary spirit alive, even after a series of false starts. His successful merger of smaller revolutionary groups into a single coherent party provided a better base for those who shared revolutionary ideals. Under Sun's provisional government, several innovations were introduced, such as the aforementioned calendar system, and fashionableZhongshan suits.
Yuan Shikai, who was in control of theBeiyang Army, had been promised the position of president of the Republic of China if he could get the Qing court to abdicate.[88] On 12 February 1912, the Emperor did abdicate the throne.[86] Sun stepped down as president, and Yuan became the new provisional president in Beijing on 10 March 1912.[88] The provisional government did not have any military forces of its own. Its control over elements of the new army that had mutinied was limited, and significant forces still had not declared against the Qing.
Sun Yat-sen sent telegrams to the leaders of all provinces to request them to elect and to establish the National Assembly in 1912.[89] In May 1912, the legislative assembly moved from Nanjing to Beijing, with its 120 members divided between members of the Tongmenghui and a republican party that supported Yuan Shikai.[90] Many revolutionary members were already alarmed by Yuan's ambitions and the northern-basedBeiyang government.
New Nationalist party in 1912, failed Second Revolution and new exile
The Tongmenghui memberSong Jiaoren quickly tried to control the assembly. He mobilized the old Tongmenghui at the core with the mergers of a number of new small parties to form a new political party, theKuomintang (Chinese Nationalist Party, commonly abbreviated as "KMT") on 25 August 1912 atHuguang Guild Hall, Beijing.[90] The1912–1913 National assembly election was considered a huge success for the KMT, which won 269 of the 596 seats in the lower house and 123 of the 274 seats in the upper house.[88][90] In retaliation, the KMT leaderSong Jiaoren was assassinated, almost certainly by a secret order of Yuan, on 20 March 1913.[88] TheSecond Revolution took place by Sun and KMT military forces trying to overthrow Yuan's forces of about 80,000 men in an armed conflict in July 1913.[91] The revolt against Yuan was unsuccessful. In August 1913, Sun fled to Japan, where he later enlisted financial aid by the politician and industrialistFusanosuke Kuhara.[92]
Sun was now convinced that the only hope for a unified China lay in a military conquest from his base in the south, followed by a period ofpolitical tutelage [zh], which would culminate in the transition to democracy. To hasten the conquest of China, he began a policy of active co-operation with theChinese Communist Party (CCP). Sun and theSoviet Union'sAdolph Joffe signed theSun-Joffe Manifesto in January 1923.[2] Sun received help from theComintern for his acceptance of communist members into his KMT. Sun received assistance from Soviet advisorMikhail Borodin, whom Sun described as his "Lafayette".[98]: 54 The Russian revolutionary and socialist leaderVladimir Lenin praised Sun and his KMT for its ideology, principles, attempts at social reformation, and fight against foreign imperialism.[99][100][101] Sun also returned the praise by calling Lenin a "great man" and indicated that he wished to follow the same path as Lenin.[102] In 1923, after having been in contact with Lenin and other Moscow communists, Sun sent representatives to study theRed Army, and in turn, the Soviets sent representatives to help reorganize the KMT at Sun's request.[103]
On 10 November 1924, Sun traveled north toTianjin and delivered a speech to suggest a gathering for a "national conference" for the Chinese people. He called for the end of warlord rules and the abolition of allunequal treaties with theWestern powers.[110] Two days later, he traveled to Beijing to discuss the future of the country despite his deteriorating health and the ongoing civil war of the warlords. Among the people whom he met was the Muslim warlord GeneralMa Fuxiang, who informed Sun that he would welcome Sun's leadership.[111] On 28 November 1924 Sun traveled to Japan and gave aspeech on Pan-Asianism atKobe, Japan.[112]
For many years, it was popularly believed that Sun died ofliver cancer. On 26 January 1925, Sun underwent anexploratory laparotomy atPeking Union Medical College Hospital (PUMCH) to investigate a long-term illness. It was performed by the head of the Department of Surgery, Adrian S. Taylor, who stated that the procedure "revealed extensive involvement of the liver bycarcinoma" and that Sun had only about ten days to live. Sun was hospitalized, and his condition was treated withradium.[113] Sun survived the initial ten-day period, and on 18 February, against the advice of doctors, he was transferred to the KMT headquarters and treated withtraditional Chinese medicine. That was also unsuccessful, and he died on 12 March, at the age of 58.[114] Contemporary reports inThe New York Times,[114]Time,[115] and the Chinese newspaperQun Qiang Bao all reported the cause of death as liver cancer, based on Taylor's observation.[116] He also left ashort political will (總理遺囑), penned byWang Jingwei, which had a widespread influence in the subsequent development of theRepublic of China andTaiwan.[117]
Sun Yat-sen on his death bed. Picture at The Museum of Dr. Sun Yat-sen inCuiheng
His body then was preserved inmineral oil[118] and taken to theTemple of Azure Clouds, aBuddhist shrine in theWestern Hills a few miles outside Beijing.[119] A glass-covered steel coffin was sent by theSoviet Union to the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall at Temple of Azure Clouds as a permanent repository for the body but was ultimately declined by the family as unsuitable.[120] The body was embalmed for preservation byPeking Union Medical College who reportedly guaranteed its preservation for 150 years.[120]
In 1926, construction began on a majestic mausoleum at the foot ofPurple Mountain in Nanjing, which was completed in the spring of 1929. On 1 June 1929, Sun's remains were moved from Beijing and interred in theSun Yat-sen Mausoleum.
By pure chance, in May 2016, an American pathologist, Rolf F. Barth, was visiting theSun Yat-sen Memorial Hall inGuangzhou when he noticed a faded copy of the original autopsy report on display. The autopsy was performed immediately after Sun's death by James Cash, a pathologist at PUMCH. Based on atissue sample, Cash concluded that the cause of death was anadenocarcinoma in thegallbladder that hadmetastasized to the liver. In modern China, liver cancer is far more common thangallbladder cancer. Although the incidence rates for either one in 1925 are not known, if one assumes that they were similar to modern rates, the original diagnosis by Taylor was a reasonable conclusion. From the time of Sun's death to the appearance of Barth's report[113] in theChinese Journal of Cancer in September 2016, Sun's true cause of death was not reported in any English-language publication. Even in Chinese-language sources, it appeared in only one non-medical online report in 2013.[113][121]
After Sun's death, a power struggle between his young protégéChiang Kai-shek and his old revolutionary comradeWang Jingwei split the KMT. At stake in the struggle was the right to lay claim to Sun's ambiguous legacy. In 1927, Chiang marriedSoong Mei-ling, a sister of Sun's widowSoong Ching-ling, and he could now claim to be a brother-in-law of Sun. When theCommunists and the Kuomintang split in 1927, which marked the start of theChinese Civil War, each group claimed to be his true heirs, and the conflict that continued untilWorld War II. Sun's widow,Soong Ching-ling, sided with the Communists during the Chinese Civil War and was critical of Chiang's regime since theShanghai massacre in 1927. She served from 1949 to 1981 as vice-president (or vice-chairwoman) of the People's Republic of China and as honorary president shortly before her death in 1981.[122]
Apersonality cult in the Republic of China was centered on Sun and his successor,GeneralissimoChiang Kai-shek. The cult was created after Sun Yat-sen died. Chinese Muslim generals and imams participated in the personality cult and theone-party state, with Muslim GeneralMa Bufang making people bow to Sun's portrait and listen to the national anthem during aTibetan andMongol religious ceremony for theQinghai Lake god.[123] Quotes from theQur'an and theHadith were used byHui Muslims to justify Chiang's rule over China.[124]
The Kuomintang's constitution designated Sun as the party president. After his death, the Kuomintang opted to keep that language in its constitution to honor his memory forever. The party has since been headed by a director-general (1927–1975) and a chairman (since 1975), who discharge the functions of the president.[citation needed]
Though he took a stance againstidolatry in life, Sun sometimes becameworshiped as a god among people. For example, a KMT committee member Hsieh Kun-hong controversially referred to Sun as having "become immortal" after death under the posthumous name of "Great Merciful True Monarch" (Chinese:偉慈真君) in 2021. Sun is already worshipped in the syncretic Vietnamese religion ofCaodaism.[125]
In 1956,Mao Zedong said, "Let us pay tribute to our great revolutionary forerunner, Dr. Sun Yat-sen!... he bequeathed to us much that is useful in the sphere of political thought."[127][128]
Xi Jinping incorporates Sun's legacy into his discourse on national rejuvenation.[129] Xi describes Sun as the first person to propose a method for Chinese revival, including adopting the first blueprint for China's modernization.[129]
Sun's Three Principles of the People has been reinterpreted by the Chinese Communist Party to argue that communism is a necessary conclusion of them and thus provide legitimacy for the government. This reinterpretation of the Three Principles of the People is commonly referred to as the New Three Principles of the People (Chinese:新三民主義, also translated as "neo-tridemism"), a word coined by Mao's 1940 essayOn New Democracy in which he argued that the Communist Party is a better enforcer of the Three Principles of the People compared to the bourgeois Kuomintang and that the new three principles are about allying with the communists and the Russians (Soviets) and supporting the peasants and the workers.[130] Proponents of the New Three Principles of the People claim that Sun's book Three Principles of the People acknowledges that the principles of welfare is inherently socialistic and communistic.[131]
During the 90th anniversary of the Xinhai Revolution in 2001, former CCP General SecretaryJiang Zemin claimed that Sun supposedly advocated for the "New Three Principles of the People."[132][133] In 2001, Sun's granddaughter Lily Sun said that the Chinese Communists were distorting Sun's legacy. She again voiced her displeasure in 2002 in a private letter to Jiang about the distortion of history.[132] In 2008 Jiang Zemin was willing to offer US$10 million to sponsor a Xinhai Revolution anniversary celebration event. According toMing Pao, she did not take the money because then she would not "have the freedom to properly communicate the Revolution."[132]
In 1981, Lily Sun took a trip to Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum in Nanjing. The emblem of the KMT had been removed from the top of his sacrificial hall at the time of her visit but was later restored. On another visit in May 2011, she was surprised to find the four-character "General Rules of Meetings" (會議通則), a document that Sun wrote in reference toRobert's Rules of Order had been removed from a stone carving.[132]
In 1940, the Republic of China (ROC) government had bestowed the title of "father of the nation" on Sun. However, after 1949, as a result of the Chiang regime's arrival in Taiwan, his "father of the nation" designation continued only in Taiwan.[134]
Sun visited Taiwan briefly on only three occasions (in 1900, 1913, and 1918) or four by counting 1924, when his boat had stopped in Keelung Harbor, but he did not disembark.[134]
In November 2004, theTaiwanese Ministry of Education proposed that Sun was not the father of Taiwan. Instead, Sun was a foreigner from mainland China.[135] Taiwanese Education MinisterTu Cheng-sheng and theExamination Yuan memberLin Yu-ti [zh], both of whom supported the proposal, had their portraits pelted with eggs in protest.[136] At a Sun Yat-sen statue inKaohsiung, a 70-year-old retired soldier of the Republic of China committed suicide on Sun's birthday, 12 November, to protest the ministry's proposal.[135][136]
As a lifelong Christian who never left Christianity, Sun Yat-sen was a loyal follower of Western modernity and Christianity[137] and saw it as the best way to develop the Chinese nation. He went on foreign trips to gather support and resources of Western and Christian nations.[138] He was highly critical of anything from ancient Chinese which did not conform to Western standards and ideals. This led him and his group to break idols and denounce Chinese medicine amongst other things.[139][140]
Sun Yat-sen spent years in Hawaii as a student in the late 1870s and early 1880s and was highly impressed with the economic development that he saw there. He used the Kingdom of Hawaii as a model to develop his vision of a technologically modern, politically independent, activelyanti-imperialist China.[141] Sun, an important pioneer of international development, proposed in the 1920s international institutions of the sort that appeared after World War II. He focused on China, with its vast potential and weak base of mostly local entrepreneurs.[142]
His key proposal was socialism. He proposed:
The State will take over all the large enterprises; we shall encourage and protect enterprises which may reasonably be entrusted to the people; the nation will possess equality with other nations; every Chinese will be equal to every other Chinese both politically and in his opportunities of economic advancement.[143]
He also proposed, "If we use existing foreign capital to build up a future communist society in China, half the work will bring double the results."[144][145][146] He also said, "It is my idea to make capitalism create socialism in China."[147][148]
Sun supportednatalism and hadeugenic ideals.[151]: 41 He favored premarital health examinations,sterilization of those perceived as unfit, and other programs for socially engineering China's population.[151]: 41–42 In Sun's view, China had only endured Western invasions and colonial rule because of its large population.[151]: 41 Those views led him to oppose the use ofbirth control.[151]: 41
Sun was a proponent ofPan-Asianism. He said that Asia was the "cradle of the world's oldest civilisation" and that "even the ancient civilisations of the West, of Greece and Rome, had their origins on Asiatic soil." He thought that it was only in recent times that Asians "gradually degenerated and become weak."[152] For Sun, "Pan-Asianism is based on the principle of the Rule of Right, and justifies the avenging of wrongs done to others." He advocated overthrowing the Western "Rule of Might" and "seeking a civilisation of peace and equality and the emancipation of all races."[153]
However, Sun Yat-sen himself stated the following in1919:
The Chinese Nationalist Party is, after all, the revolutionaries of Japan from 50 years ago. Japan, a weak country in the East, was fortunate to have revolutionaries from the Meiji Restoration, who, for the first time, rallied and transformed Japan from a weak country to a strong one. Our revolutionaries also followed the path of Japan's revolutionaries, seeking to transform China.[155]
Japan's Meiji Restoration was the cause of the Chinese revolution, and the Chinese revolution was the result of Japan's Meiji Restoration. Both are originally connected and work together to achieve the revival of East Asia.[156]
Based on his empathy for the Meiji Restoration, Sun Yat-sen sought collaboration between Japan and China. For him, Japan's Twenty-One Demands on China represented a betrayal of the "revolutionary aspirations" of the Meiji patriots and advanced Japan's policy of aggression against China.[157]
Additionally,Sasaki Tōichi of the Imperial Japanese Army served as a military advisor to Sun. He also became friends withMinakata Kumagusu, and their friendship deepened after they met while Sun was in exile in London.[161]
The Great Asianism Lecture refers to the speech given by Sun Yat-sen on November 29, 1924, the day after his meeting withTōyama Mitsuru in Kobe. It was delivered at the auditorium of the Kobe Prefectural Girls' High School, located where the current Hyogo Prefectural Government Office is, to five organizations, including the Kobe Chamber of Commerce. This speech distinguished between the "kingly way" of the East and the "hegemonic way" of the West, praising the kingly way of the East, and condemning Japan's tilt towards hegemonic ways due to excess, while also praising Japan's modernization as a leader in this regard.[162][163]
You Japanese people have adopted the hegemonic cultural ways of the West, while also possessing the essence of the kingly way of Asian culture. However, as you look toward the future of world culture, the question remains: will you ultimately become the tools of the Western hegemonic ways, or will you stand as a barrier to the Eastern kingly way? This depends on your careful consideration and deliberate choices.[164]
This speech criticized Westerncolonialism while praising Japan's modernization and civilization. It also criticized Japan for becoming a follower of Western colonialism and advocated for cooperation among Asians.
Lu Muzhen, Sun's first wifeKaoru Otsuki, Sun's Japanese teenage wifeFumiko, daughter of Sun and Kaoru
Sun Yat-sen was born to Sun Dacheng (孫達成) and his wife,Lady Yang (楊氏) on 12 November 1866.[165] At the time, his father was 53, and his mother was 38 years old. He had an older brother, Sun Dezhang (孫德彰), and an older sister, Sun Jinxing (孫金星), who died at the early age of 4. Another older brother, Sun Deyou (孫德祐), died at the age of 6. He also had an older sister, Sun Miaoqian (孫妙茜), and a younger sister, Sun Qiuqi (孫秋綺).[26]
At age 20, Sun had anarranged marriage with the fellow villagerLu Muzhen. She bore a son,Sun Fo, and two daughters, Sun Jinyuan (孫金媛) and Sun Jinwan (孫金婉).[26] Sun Fo was the grandfather of Leland Sun, who spent 37 years working inHollywood as an actor andstuntman.[166] Sun Yat-sen was also the godfather of Paul Myron Anthony Linebarger, an American author and poet who wrote under the nameCordwainer Smith.
Sun's firstconcubine, the Hong Kong–bornChen Cuifen, lived inTaiping, Perak (now inMalaysia) for 17 years. The couple adopted a local girl as their daughter. Cuifen subsequently relocated to China, where she died.[167]
During Sun's exile in Japan, he had relationships with two Japanese women: the 15-year-oldHaru Asada, whom he took as a concubine up to her death in 1902, and another 15-year-old schoolgirl,Kaoru Otsuki, whom Sun married in 1905 and abandoned the next year while she was pregnant.[168] Otsuki later had their daughter, Fumiko, adopted by the Miyagawa family in Yokohama, who did not discover her parentage until 1951,[168] 26 years after Sun's death.
On 25 October 1915 in Japan, Sun marriedSoong Ching-ling, one of theSoong sisters.[26][169] Soong Ching-ling's father was the American-educatedMethodist ministerCharles Soong, who made a fortune in banking and in printing of Bibles. Although Charles had been a personal friend of Sun, he was enraged by Sun announcing his intention to marry Ching-ling because while Sun was a Christian, hekept two wives: Lu Muzhen and Kaoru Otsuki. Soong viewed Sun's actions as running directly against their shared religion.
Aerial perspective of Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall, in central Singapore, taken in 2016
In most majorChinese cities, one of the main streets isZhongshan Lu (中山路) to celebrate Sun's memory. There are also numerous parks, schools, and geographical features named after him. Xiangshan, Sun's hometown in Guangdong, was renamedZhongshan in his honor, and there is a hall dedicated to his memory at theTemple of Azure Clouds in Beijing. There are also a series ofSun Yat-sen stamps.
InGeorge Town, Penang,Malaysia, the Penang Philomatic Union had its premises at 120Armenian Street in 1910, while Sun spent more than four months inPenang and convened the historic "Penang Conference" to launch the fundraising campaign for the Huanghuagang Uprising and founded theKwong Wah Yit Poh. The house, which has been preserved as theSun Yat-sen Museum (formerly called the Sun Yat Sen Penang Base), was visited by President-designateHu Jintao in 2002. The Penang Philomatic Union subsequently moved to a bungalow at 65Macalister Road, which has been preserved as the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Centre Penang.
TheNanyang Wan Qing Yuan in Singapore have since been preserved and renamed as theSun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall.[73] A Sun Yat-sen heritage trail was also launched on 20 November 2010 in Penang.[175]
The "Trail of Dr. Sun Yat Sen and His Comrades in Ipoh"[178] was established in 2019, based on the book "Road to Revolution: Dr. Sun Yat Sen and His Comrades in Ipoh."[179]
Sun Yat-Sen plaza in the Chinese Quarter of Montreal, Quebec, Canada
In 1993,Lily Sun, one of Sun Yat-sen's granddaughters, donated books, photographs, artwork and other memorabilia to theKapiʻolani Community College library as part of the Sun Yat-sen Asian Collection.[185] During October and November every year the entire collection is shown.[185] In 1997, the Dr Sun Yat-sen Hawaii Foundation was formed online as a virtual library.[185] In 2006, theNASAMars Exploration RoverSpirit called one of the hills that was explored "Zhongshan."[186]
^Contrary to a popular legend, Sun entered the Legation voluntarily although he was prevented from leaving. The Legation planned to execute him and to return his body to Beijing for ritual beheading. Cantlie, his former teacher, was refused a writ ofhabeas corpus because of the Legation'sdiplomatic immunity, but he began a campaign throughThe Times. Through diplomatic channels, theBritish Foreign Office persuaded the Legation to release Sun.[48]
^Brannon, John (16 August 2007)."Chinatown park, statue honor Sun Yat-sen".Honolulu Star-Bulletin. Archived fromthe original on 4 October 2012. Retrieved17 August 2007.Sun graduated from Iolani School in 1882, then attended Oahu College—now known as Punahou School—for one semester.
^South China Morning Post. "Birth of Sun heralds dawn of revolutionary era for China". 11 November 1999.
^"...At present there are some seven members in the interior belonging to our mission, and two here, one I baptized last Sabbath, a young man who is attending the Government Central School. We had a very pleasant communion service yesterday..." – Hager to Clark, 5 May 1884, ABC 16.3.8: South China v.4, no.17, p.3
^"...We had a pleasant communion yesterday and received one Chinaman into the church..." – Hager to Pond, 5 May 1884, ABC 16.3.8: South China v.4, no.18, p.3 postscript
^Rev. C. R. Hager, 'The First Citizen of the Chinese Republic', The Medical Missionary v.22 1913, p.184
^中西區區議會 [Central & Western District Council] (November 2006),孫中山先生史蹟徑 [Dr Sun Yat-sen Historical Trail](PDF),Dr. Sun Yat-sen Museum (in Chinese and English), Hong Kong, China, p. 30, archived fromthe original(PDF) on 24 February 2012, retrieved15 September 2012
^Bard, Solomon.Voices from the past: Hong Kong, 1842–1918. (2002). HK University Press.ISBN978-9622095748. p. 183.
^abCurthoys, Ann; Lake, Marilyn (2005).Connected worlds: history in transnational perspective. ANU publishing.ISBN978-1920942441. p. 101.
^Wei, Julie Lee. Myers Ramon Hawley. Gillin, Donald G. (1994).Prescriptions for saving China: selected writings of Sun Yat-sen. Hoover press.ISBN978-0817992811.
^ab王恆偉 (2006).#5 清 [Chapter 5. Qing dynasty].中國歷史講堂. 中華書局. p. 146.ISBN9628885286.
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^"JapanFocus". Old.japanfocus.org. Archived fromthe original on 16 March 2012. Retrieved26 September 2011.
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^Ocampo, Ambeth (2010).Looking Back 2. Pasig: Anvil Publishing. pp. 8–11.
^abSmyser, A.A. (2000).Sun Yat-sen's strong links to Hawaii. Honolulu Star Bulletin. "Sun renounced it in due course. It did, however, help him circumvent the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, which became applicable when Hawaii was annexed to the United States in 1898."
^abcdefghijklmYan, Qinghuang. (2008).The Chinese in Southeast Asia and beyond: socioeconomic and political dimensions. World Scientific publishing.ISBN978-9812790477. pp. 182–187.
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^Khoo & Lubis, Salma Nassution & Abdur-Razzaq (2005).Kinta Valley: Pioneering Malaysia's Modern Development. Areca Books. p. 231.
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^Lane, Roger deWardt. (2008).Encyclopedia Small Silver Coins.ISBN978-0615244792.
^abWelland, Sasah Su-ling. (2007).A Thousand Miles of Dreams: The Journeys of Two Chinese Sisters. Rowman Littlefield Publishing.ISBN978-0742553149. p. 87.
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^abcdFu, Zhengyuan. (1993).Autocratic tradition and Chinese politics(Cambridge University Press.ISBN978-0521442282). pp. 153–154.
^abcdCh'ien Tuan-sheng.The Government and Politics of China 1912–1949. Harvard University Press, 1950; rpr. Stanford University Press.ISBN978-0804705516. pp. 83–91.
^Ernest Young, "Politics in the Aftermath of Revolution", in John King Fairbank, ed.,The Cambridge History of China: Republican China 1912–1949, Part 1 (Cambridge University Press, 1983;ISBN978-0521235419), p. 228.
^Altman, Albert A., and Harold Z. Schiffrin. "Sun Yat-Sen and the Japanese: 1914–16." Modern Asian Studies, vol. 6, no. 4, 1972, pp. 385–400. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/311539
^South China Morning post. Sun Yat-sen's durable and malleable legacy. 26 April 2011.
^Thampi, Madhavi.India and China in the Colonial World. Taylor & Francis. p. 229.
^South China morning post. 1913–1922. 9 November 2003.
^Kirby, William C. [2000] (2000).State and economy in republican China: a handbook for scholars, volume 1. Harvard publishing.ISBN978-0674003682. p. 59.
^Crean, Jeffrey (2024).The Fear of Chinese Power: an International History. New Approaches to International History series. London, UK:Bloomsbury Academic.ISBN978-1-350-23394-2.
^Ji, Zhaojin. (2003).A history of modern Shanghai banking: the rise and decline of China's finance capitalism. M.E. Sharpe Publishing.ISBN978-0765610034. p. 165.
^"Lost Leader".Time. 23 March 1925. Archived fromthe original on 4 May 2008. Retrieved3 August 2008.A year ago his death was prematurely announced; but it was not until last January that he was taken to the Rockefeller Hospital at Peking and declared to be in the advanced stages of cancer of the liver.
^Sharman, L. (1968) [1934].Sun Yat-sen: His life and times. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press. pp. 305–306, 310.
^國父遺囑 [Founding Father's Will].Vincent's Calligraphy. Archived fromthe original on 7 August 2016. Retrieved14 May 2016.
^Bullock, M.B. (2011).The oil prince's legacy: Rockefeller philanthropy in China. Redwood City, CA: Stanford University Press. p. 81.ISBN978-0804776882.
^Rosecrance, Richard N. Stein, Arthur A. (2006).No more states?: globalization, national self-determination, and terrorism. Rowman & Littlefield publishing.ISBN978-0742539440. p. 269.
^Selected Works of Mao Tse-Tung: Volume 5, Volume 5. 2014. p. 333.
^Dimitrakis, Panagiotis (2017).The Secret War for China: Espionage, Revolution and the Rise of Mao. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 4.
^abShan, Patrick Fuliang (2024). "What Did the CCP Learn from the Past?". In Fang, Qiang; Li, Xiaobing (eds.).China under Xi Jinping: A New Assessment.Leiden University Press. p. 41.ISBN9789087284411.
^Chen De-ren & Yasui Mikio (Eds.) "Sun Yat-sen Lecture 'Great Asianism' Document Collection - 1924 November, Japan and China at a Crossroads" Hōritsu Bunka-sha, 1989
^孫中山學術研究資訊網 – 國父的家世與求學 [Dr. Sun Yat-sen's family background and schooling].[sun.yatsen.gov.tw/ sun.yatsen.gov.tw] (in Chinese). 16 November 2005. Archived fromthe original on 24 September 2011. Retrieved2 October 2011.
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Restarick, Henry B.,Sun Yat-sen, Liberator of China. (Yale UP, 1931)
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Schiffrin, Harold Z.Sun Yat-sen: Reluctant Revolutionary (1980)
Schiffrin, Harold Z.Sun Yat-sen and the origins of the Chinese revolution (1968).
Shen, Stephen and Robert Payne.Sun Yat-Sen: A Portrait (1946)online free
Soong, Irma Tam. "Sun Yat-sen's Christian Schooling in Hawai'i."The Hawaiian Journal of History, vol. 31 (1997)onlineArchived 10 October 2019 at theWayback Machine
Wilbur, Clarence Martin.Sun Yat-sen, frustrated patriot (Columbia University Press, 1976), a major scholarly biographyonline
Yu, George T. "The 1911 Revolution: Past, Present, and Future",Asian Survey, 31#10 (1991), pp. 895–904,online historiography
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