Sun Yat-Sen (1866–1925)

Sun Yat-sen, Chinese revolutionary leader who transformed China from a monarchy to republic, was born in southern Guangdong, where he was influenced by the anti-Manchu tradition and the Taiping Rebellion (1850–1864). In 1879, Sun was sent to his elder brother in Hawai'i, where he attended a Christian school for 4 years. Returning home with a Christian worldview, Sun's behavior enraged the village elders who forced him to leave his native town.

From 1884 to 1892, Sun lived in Hong Kong where he was baptized as Congregational Christian and earned his medical degree. He returned to Canton in 1893, but the seeds of anti-Manchu sentiment sown in his home province combined with his western education abroad turned Sun from medicine to revolutionary activities. Moved by the miserable poverty of the people of China, in 1894 Sun and a friend drew up a program of moderate social reforms and submitted it to the empire's leading bureaucrat, Li Hongzhang. His petition was ignored. Convinced that under the Manchu there was no hope for China, Sun determined to devote himself to revolution. He returned to Hawai'i, raising funds from the overseas Chinese and in 1894, he formed the revolutionary organization Society to Restore China's Prosperity, Xing Zhong Hui, with the party's slogan “expulsion of the Manchu, restoration of China, and the establishment of a republic.” Sun's unsuccessful plot to seize Canton in October 1985 cost the lives of his five friends and he had to flee for his life.

Frightened by Sun's movements, the Manchu Empress ordered his kidnapping. While traveling in London in October 1896, Sun was taken prisoner by the Chinese legation. The plan was to ship him home for execution but Sun's former teacher from his medical college, Dr. James Cantlie, helped gain his release. The incident, published by newspapers and in Sun's own account, Kidnapped in London, turned Sun into a celebrity.

In 1906, Sun became the leader of the revolutionary organization Tongmenghui (TMH), which later became Guomindong (GMD). When the TMH program was drafted, Sun included his three principles of nationalism, democracy, and people's livelihood (socialism). TMH launched eight unsuccessful uprisings, but they had profound impact. A bomb explosion in Wuchan on October 10 began the great Chinese Revolution of 1911 that finally overthrew the Manchu.

On December 29, Sun was elected as provisional president of the new Chinese Republic and lived for another 14 years, struggling with his plan for China's future. He urged his comrades to take his program, Three Principles of the People, as a basis and to expand them if necessary. One of his principles, nationalism, called for national unity to obtain equal status abroad and once freedom was achieved, to help other victims of imperialism. After Sun's death, China was divided along the split of his party GMD. But his legacy prevailed. While the GMD decreed Sun Yat-sen as father of the republic, the Chinese Communist Party hailed him the “pioneer of the revolution” and both celebrate his memory.