Sun Yatsen: The Unlikely Father of a Nation Roderick Wilson Department of History University of Wisconsin-Whitewater
1949 Communist Revolution “Father of the revolution” Republic of China People’s Republic of China “Father of the revolution” 1644-1911 Qing Empire 1911 Xinhai Revolution 1916-1927 Era of warlordism 1931-1945 War with Japan 1927-1949 Civil war 1949 Communist Revolution Republic of China (Taiwan) Sun Yatsen (1866-1925) “Father of the Republic”
The Ubiquitous Father of the Nation (国父) Sun Yatsen University, Guangzhou (Canton) National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, Taiwan Dr. Sun Yat-sen Museum, Hong Kong Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum, Nanjing (PRC)
Sun Yatsen as an Overseas Chinese 1866: Born in Guangzhou (Canton) 1879-83: Kingdom of Hawaii 1884-95: Hong Kong (British colony) 1895-1910: Britain, Japan, Canada, and the United States Sun at Hong Kong College of Medicine Sun with family
Sun as an Overseas Revolutionary, 1895-1911 Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) Most powerful and prosperous dynasty in Chinese history Ruled by foreign Manchus Governing ideology was Confucianism (looked to the past for guidance in governing) Western Imperialism Began with 1839-42 Opium War Treaty ports, spheres of influence Sun Yatsen 1895-1911: 10 attempted coup d'états 1905: Formed Revolutionary Alliance in Tokyo, Japan Issues his Three Principles of the People Nationalism Democracy Livelihood Empress Dowager Cixi
Sun as President (for a few months) Yuan Shikai (1859-1916) 10/10/1911 Uprising in Wuhan 11/13/1911 Yuan Shikai becomes prime minister 1/1/1912 Sun Yatsen became president of new republic 2/12/1912 Manchu abdicate 3/10/1912 Yuan becomes president Sun Yatsen (1866-1925)
Sun as Leader of Nationalist Party (Goumindang GMD) China needs national unity Need a strong political party Need a strong national army Two enemies of China Regional warlords Western and Japanese imperialists 1917 Russian Revolution Sun transformed Nationalist Party into a centrally controlled Leninist party Formed National Revolutionary Army Whampoa Military Academy, 1924 “Europeans rebelled and fought for liberty because they had had too little liberty. But we, because we have had too much liberty without any unity and resisting power, because we have become a sheet of loose sand and so have been invaded by foreign imperialism and oppressed by the economic control and trade wars of the Powers, without being able to resist, must break down individual liberty and become pressed together into an unyielding body like the firm rock …” –Sun Yatsen, 1924
Sun as Father of the Nation Portrait of Sun Yatsen at Tiananmen Square Portrait of Mao Zedong at Tiananmen Square