Sun Yat-sen

Sun Yat-sen (November 12, 1866 – March 12, 1925) was a Chinese revolutionary leader who had a significant role in the overthrow of the Qing Dynasty. A founder of the Kuomintang, Sun was the first provisional president when the Republic of China was founded in 1912. He developed a political philosophy known as the Three Principles of the People which still heavily influences Chinese governments today.

Legacy

A struggle for Sun's power between Chiang Kai-shek and Wang Jingwei broke out immediately after Sun's death. This created much inefficiency in the administration of the country and largely delayed the Northern Expedition.

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In addition, Sun is also one of the primary saints of the Vietnamese religion Cao Dai.

Related Topics:
Saint - Vietnam - Religion - Cao Dai

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Power struggle

After Sun's death, a power struggle between his young protégé Chiang Kai-shek and his old revolutionary comrade Wang Jingwei split the KMT. At stake in this struggle was the right to lay claim to Sun's ambiguous legacy. When the Communists and the Kuomintang split in 1927, marking the start of the Chinese Civil War, each group claimed to be his true heirs. In addition, during World War II, both the anti-Japanese government of Chiang Kai-shek and the pro-Japanese puppet government of Wang Jingwei claimed to be the rightful heirs of Sun's legacy.

Related Topics:
1927 - Chinese Civil War - World War II - Puppet government - Wang Jingwei

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The official veneration of Sun's memory (especially in the Kuomintang) was a virtual cult, which centered around his tomb in Nanking. His widow, the former Soong Ching-ling, sided with the Communists during the Chinese Civil War and served from 1949 to 1981 as Vice President (or Vice Chairwoman) of the Communist China and as Honorary President shortly before her death in 1981.

Related Topics:
Cult - Nanking - 1949 - 1981 - Communist China

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National Father

Sun Yat-sen remains unique among twentieth-century Chinese leaders for having a high reputation both in mainland China and in Taiwan. In Taiwan, he is seen as the Father of the Republic of China, and is known by the posthumous name National Father, Mr. Sun Chungshan (Chinese: ????????, where the one-character space is a traditional homage symbol). His picture is still almost always found in ceremonial locations such as in front of legislatures and classrooms of public schools (from elementary to senior high school), and he continues to appear in new coinage and currency.

Related Topics:
Mainland China - Republic of China - Posthumous name - Chinese

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This stands in sharp contrast to Chiang Kai-shek, whose pictures were mostly removed from public places in the 1990s, and whose likeness has gradually disappeared from coinage and currency. Much of the difference may be attributed to the fact that unlike Chiang, Sun played no role in governing Taiwan, so invoking Sun produces much less of a negative reaction among supporters of Taiwanese independence than invoking other figures of the Kuomintang.

Related Topics:
Chiang Kai-shek - 1990s - Taiwanese independence

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Sun's posthumous popularity on Mainland China

On the mainland, Sun is also seen as a Chinese nationalist and proto-socialist, and is highly regarded as the Forerunner of the Revolution. He is mentioned by name in the preamble to the Constitution of the People's Republic of China. In recent years, the leadership of the Communist Party of China has been increasingly invoking Sun, partly as a way of bolstering Chinese nationalism in light of Chinese economic reform and partly to increase connections with supporters of the Kuomintang on Taiwan which the PRC sees as allies against Taiwanese independence. Sun's tomb was one of the first stops made by the leaders of both the Kuomintang and the People First Party on their trips to mainland China in 2005. Furthermore, a massive picture of Sun now appears in Tiananmen Square for May Day while pictures of Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin no longer appear.

Related Topics:
Mainland - Nationalist - Socialist - Constitution of the People's Republic of China - Communist Party of China - Chinese nationalism - Chinese economic reform - Kuomintang - Taiwan - People First Party - 2005 - Tiananmen Square - May Day - Karl Marx - Vladimir Lenin

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Sun and the overseas Chinese

Sun's notability and popularity extends beyond the Greater China region, particularly to Nanyang where a large concentration of overseas Chinese reside in Singapore. Sun recognised the contributions which the large number of overseas Chinese can make beyond the sending of remittances to their ancestral homeland, and therefore made multiple visits to spread his revolutionary message to these communities around the world.

Related Topics:
Greater China - Nanyang - Overseas Chinese - Singapore

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Sun made a total of eight visits to Singapore between 1900 and 1911. His first visit made on 7 September 1900 was to rescue Miyazaki Toten, who was arrested there, an act which also resulted in his own arrest and a ban from visiting the island for five years. Upon his next visit in June 1905, he met local Chinese merchants Teo Eng Hock, Tan Chor Nam and Lim Nee Soon in a meeting which was to mark the commencement of direct support from the Nanyang Chinese. Upon hearing their reports on overseas Chinese revolutionists organising themselves in Europe and Japan, he urged them to establish the Singapore chapter of the Tongmenghui, which came officially into being on 6 April the following year upon his next visit.

Related Topics:
1900 - 1911 - 7 September - Miyazaki Toten - 1905 - Teo Eng Hock - Tan Chor Nam - Lim Nee Soon - Europe - Japan - Tongmenghui - 6 April

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The chapter was housed in a villa known as Wan Qing Yuan (???) and donated for the use of revolutionalists by Teo. In 1906, the chapter grew in membership to 400, and in 1908, when Sun was in Singapore to escape the Qing government in the wake of the failed Zhennanguan Uprising, the chapter had become the regional headquaters for Tongmenghui branches in Southeast Asia. Sun and his followers travelled from Singapore to Malaya and Indonesia to spread their revolutionary message, by which time the alliance already had over twenty branches with over 3,000 members around the world.

Related Topics:
Villa - Wan Qing Yuan - 1906 - 1908 - Zhennanguan Uprising - Southeast Asia - Malaya

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Sun's foresight in tapping on the help and resources of the overseas Chinese population was to bear fruit on his subsequent revolutionary efforts. In one particular instance, his personal plea for financial aid at the Penang Conference held on 13 November 1910 in Malaya, helped launch a major drive for donations across the Malay Peninsula, an effort which helped finance the Second Guangzhou Uprising (also commonly known as the Yellow Flower Mound revolt) in 1911.

Related Topics:
Penang Conference - 13 November - 1910 - Malaya - Malay Peninsula - Second Guangzhou Uprising - Yellow Flower Mound revolt

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Today, Sun's legacy is remembered in Nanyang at Wan Qing Yuan, which has since been preserved and renamed as the Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall, and gazetted as a national monument of Singapore on 28 October 1994.

Related Topics:
Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall - National monument - 28 October - 1994

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