Sun Yat-sen

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Sun Yat-sen (1866-1925) , "the father of modern China," was the leader of the republican movement that overthrew the Manchu dynasty in China in 1911 and created a republic; he founded the Kuomintang (or "Guomindang") party (KMT), but never held effective power in China himself. However his republican ideas and modernizing vision proved central to China, and he became an iconic hero to the Chinese diaspora across the world.

Life

He spent 1879 to 1883 in the Kingdom of Hawaii (then an independent country), staying with his brother Sun Mei. During the first three years he attended Iolani College, run by the Anglican Church. In 1883 he attended two terms at Oahu College (Punahou School) under the name Tai Chu. He possibly also attended St. Louis College, a Catholic institution. His lifelong Christianity was formed in large part by his years in Hawaii.[1]

He studied Western medicine in Canton and Hong Kong and worked 1892-94 at the Jinghu Hospital for traditional Chinese medicine in Macao, where he introduced numerous Western practices.

Revolutionary, to 1911

To fund his operations Sun Yat-sen called on Chinese living overseas. Beginning in 1894 with the first Canton rebellion, Hawaiian Chinese, particularly those in the Hilo region, contributed tens of thousands of dollars via small cash donations, the purchase of bonds, or the purchase of gold banknotes. Although a professed socialist, he worked well with capitalists and raised funds by promising businessmen future economic concessions.[2]

Three Principles

The minsheng or "people's livelihood" principle of Sun Yat-sen as an outgrowth of China's traditionalism incorporating ideas from socialism (the redistribution of private wealth to achieve equality) and capitalism (the government must represent the people in its effort to regulate capital).

Fighting for a republic, 1912-25

Image and reputation

[3]

Bibliography

see also China, history/Bibliography

Biography and ideas

  • Bergere, Marie-Claire. Sun Yat-Sen (1998), 480pp, the standard biography, based on rigorous modern scholarship
  • Chang, Sidney Hsu-hsin and Gordon, Leonard H. D. All under Heaven . . . : Sun Yat-sen and His Revolutionary Thought. (1991). 253 pp.
  • Metzger, Thomas A. "Did Sun Yat-sen Understand the Idea of Democracy? The Conceptualization of Democracy in the Three Principles of the People and in John Stuart Mill's On Liberty" American Asian Review 1992 10(1): 1-41. Issn: 0737-6650 Argues that both men extol the belief in a leadership hierarchy based on degrees of moral and educational enlightenment. Differences resulting from cultural, educational, and economic differences between their countries show Mill stressing the importance of the unpredictable interplay of diverse impulses, while Sun Yat-sen stresses leadership by a group that is publicly and politically supported in its endeavors.
  • Moran, Craig Joseph. "Tang Jiyao and Sun Yat-sen: Reform, Revolution and the Struggle for Southern China." PhD dissertation U. of Michigan 1992. 549 pp. DAI 1993 53(11): 4046-A. DA9308405 Fulltext: ProQuest Dissertations & Theses
  • Schiffrin, Harold Z. Sun Yat-sen: Reluctant Revolutionary. (1980) 280 pp.
  • Sharman, Lyon. Sun Yat-Sen, His Life and Its Meaning: A Critical Biography (1968), first published 1934 online edition
  • Wang, Huiyun. "Comparing Discourses on Tradition and Modernization: Sun Yat-sen's and Gandhi's Perspectives on Social Change." PhD dissertation U. of Chicago 1995. 313 pp. DAI 1995 56(3): 1079-A. DA9523535 Fulltext: [ProQuest Dissertations & Theses]]
  • Wang, Ke-wen. "Sun Yat-sen, Wang Jingwei and the Guangzhou Regimes, 1917-1925." Republican China 1996 22(1): 1-22. Issn: 0893-2344

National studies

  • Boorman, Howard L., ed. Biographical Dictionary of Republican China. (Vol. I-IV and Index. 1967-1979). 600 short scholarly biographies excerpt and text search
  • Botjer, George. A Short History of Nationalist China, 1919–1949 (1979). 312pp
  • Fairbank, John K., ed. The Cambridge History of China, Vol. 12, Republican China 1912-1949. Part 1. (1983). 1001 pp. ; Fairbank, John K. and Feuerwerker, Albert, eds. The Cambridge History of China. Vol. 13: Republican China, 1912-1949, Part 2. (1986). 1092 pp. summarizes latest scholarship
  • Harrison, Henrietta. The Making of the Republican Citizen: Political Ceremonies and Symbols in China, 1911-1929. (2000). 270 pp.
  • Hsü, Immanuel Chung-yueh. The Rise of Modern China, 6th ed. (1999), textbook with detailed political coverage excerpt and text search
  • Spence, Jonathan D. The Search for Modern China (1991), 876pp; well written survey from 1644 to 1980s excerpt and text search; complete edition online at Questia

Primary Sources

  • Cheng, Chu-yuan, ed. Sun Yat-sen's Doctrine in the Modern World. (1989). 327 pp.
  • Wei, Julie Lee; Myers, Ramon H.; and Gillin, Donald G., eds. Prescriptions for Saving China: Selected Writings of Sun Yat-sen. (1994). 328 pp.

See also

Online resources

notes

  1. ↑ Irma Tam Soong, "Sun Yat-sen's Christian Schooling in Hawai`i." Hawaiian Journal of History 1997 31: 151-178. Issn: 0440-5145
  2. ↑ Allen F. Damon, "Financing Revolution: Sun Yat-sen and the Overthrow of the Ch'ing Dynasty." Hawaiian Journal of History 1991 25: 161-186. Issn: 0440-5145
  3. ↑ J. Y. Wong, "Sun Yatsen: His Heroic Image a Century Afterwards." Journal of Asian History 1994 28(2): 154-176. Issn: 0021-910x
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