Sun Yat-sen was the founding father of the Republic of China.

The first provisional president of the Republic

of China, Sun was a Chinese revolutionary, physician, writer and philosopher. As the foremost pioneer and first
leader of a Republican China, Sun is referred to as the "Father of the Nation" in the Republic of China
(Nationalists - Taiwan) and the "forerunner of democratic revolution" in the People's Republic of China
(Communists - Beijing). Sun played an instrumental role in the overthrow of the Qing dynasty (the last imperial
dynasty of China) during the years leading up to the Xinhai Revolution. He was appointed to serve as Provisional
President of the Republic of China when it was founded in 1912. He later co-founded the Kuomintang (KMT
Nationalist Party of China), serving as its first leader. Sun was a uniting figure in post-Imperial China, and he
remains unique among 20th-century Chinese politicians for being widely revered amongst the people from both
sides of the Taiwan Strait.

After the success of the revolution and the Han Chinese regaining power after 268 years of living under
Manchurian rule (Qing dynasty), he quickly resigned from his post as President of the newly founded Republic of
China to Yuan Shikai, and led successive revolutionary governments as a challenge to the warlords who
controlled much of the nation. Sun did not live to see his party consolidate its power over the country during the
Northern Expedition. His party, which formed a fragile alliance with the Communists, split into two factions
after his death.

Sun Yat-sen was born in1866 to Sun Dacheng and Madame Yang, in the village of Cuiheng, Xiangshan County
(now Zhongshan City), Guangdong. He had a cultural background of Hakka (with roots in Zijin, Heyuan,
Guangdong) and Cantonese. His father owned very few lands and worked as a tailor in Macau, and as a
journeyman and a porter. After finishing primary education, he moved to Honolulu in the Kingdom of Hawaii,
where he lived a comfortable life of modest wealth supported by his elder brother Sun Mei.

During his stay in Honolulu, Sun Yat-sen went to ʻIolani School, which was under the supervision of British
Anglicans and directed by an Anglican prelate named Alfred Willis. There he studied English, British history,
mathematics, science, and Christianity. At Iolani School, young Sun Wen first came in contact with Christianity,
and it made a deep impression on him. Schriffin writes that Christianity was to have a great influence on Sun's
whole future political life. Sun pictured a revolution as similar to the salvation mission of the Christian church.
His conversion to Christianity was related to his revolutionary ideals and push for advancement.

In 1883 he was sent home to China as his brother was becoming worried that Sun Yat-sen was beginning to
embrace Christianity. When he returned to China in 1883 at age 17, he studied at the Christian Diocesan Boys'
School in Hong Kong. In 1886 Sun studied medicine at the Guangzhou Boji Hospital under the Christian
missionary John G. Kerr. Ultimately, he earned the license of Christian practice as a medical doctor from the
Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese. Sun was later baptized in Hong Kong (on 4 May 1884) by Rev. C.
R. Hager, an American missionary of the Congregational Church of the United States (ABCFM), to his brother's
disdain. The minister would also develop a friendship with Sun. Sun attended To Tsai Church, founded by the
London Missionary Society in 1888.

In 1924 Liao Chongzhen, a prominent and influential government official of the day, arranged a meeting between
Sun and Martha Root, a well-known journalist and traveling teacher of the Bahá'í Faith in the late 19th and early
20th century. In this meeting Sun came into contact with the Teachings of the Bahá'í Faith, expressing his
appreciation for the Cause and declaring it "highly relevant to the needs of China."

Sun, who had grown increasingly frustrated by the conservative Qing government and its refusal to adopt
knowledge from the more technologically advanced Western nations, quit his medical practice in order to devote
his time to transforming China. In 1894, Sun wrote an 8,000 character petition to Qing Viceroy Li Hongzhang
presenting his ideas for modernizing China. He traveled to Tianjin to personally present the petition to Li but was
not granted an audience. After this experience, Sun turned irrevocably toward revolution. He left China for
Hawaii and founded the Revive China Society, which was committed to revolutionizing China's prosperity. Sun
received financial support mostly from his brother who sold most of his 12,000 acres of ranch and cattle in
Hawaii.

Sun Yat-sen spent time living in Japan while in exile. He befriended and was financially aided by a democratic
revolutionary named Miyazaki Toten. While in Japan, Sun also met and befriended Mariano Ponce, then a
diplomat of the First Philippine Republic. During the Philippine Revolution and the Philippine–American War,
Sun helped Ponce procure weapons salvaged from the Imperial Japanese Army and ship the weapons to the
Philippines. By helping the Philippine Republic, Sun hoped that the Filipinos would win their independence so
that he could use the archipelago as a staging point of another revolution. However, as the war ended in July 1902,
America emerged victorious from a bitter 3-year war against the Republic. Therefore, the Filipino dream of
independence vanished with Sun's hopes of collaborating with the Philippines in his revolution in China.

On 22 October 1900, Sun launched the Huizhou uprising to attack Huizhou and provincial authorities in
Guangdong. This time, Sun appealed to the triads for help. The "Heaven and Earth Society" sect, known as
Tiandihui had been around for a long time. The group has also been referred to as the "three cooperating
organizations" as well as the triads. Sun Yat-sen mainly used this group to leverage his overseas travels to gain
further financial and resource support for his revolution. This uprising was also a failure. Miyazaki, who
participated in the revolt with Sun, wrote an account of this revolutionary effort under the title "33-year dream".

According to the New York Times, "Sun Yat-sen left his village in Guangdong, southern China, in 1879 to join a
brother in Hawaii. He eventually returned to China and from there moved to the British colony of Hong Kong in
1883. It was there that he received his Western education, his Christian faith and the money for revolution." This
is where Sun Yat-sen realized that China needed to change its ways. He knew that the only way that China would
change and modernize would be to overthrow the Qing Dynasty.

Sun was in exile not only in Japan but also in Europe, the United States, and Canada. He raised money for his
revolutionary party and to support uprisings in China. In 1896, Sun Yat-sen was detained at the Chinese Legation
in London, where the Chinese Imperial secret service planned to kill him. He was released after 12 days through
the efforts of James Cantlie, The Globe, The Times, and the Foreign Office, leaving Sun a hero in Britain. James
Cantlie, Sun's former teacher at the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese, maintained a lifelong friendship
with Sun and would later write an early biography of Sun.

In March 1904, while residing in Kula, Maui, Sun Yat-sen obtained a Certificate of Hawaiian Birth, issued by the
Territory of Hawaii, stating that "he was born in the Hawaiian Islands on the 24th day of November, A.D. 1870."
He renounced it after it served its purpose to circumvent the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. 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.

In 1904, Sun Yat-sen came about with the goal "to expel the Tatar barbarians (i.e. Manchu), to revive Zhonghua,
to establish a Republic, and to distribute land equally among the people".

On 1 December 1907, Sun led the Zhennanguan uprising against the Qing at Friendship Pass, which is the border
between Guangxi and Vietnam. The uprising failed after seven days of fighting. In 1907 there were a total of four
uprisings that failed including Huanggang uprising, Huizhou seven women lake uprising and Qinzhou uprising. In
1908 two more uprisings failed one after another including Qin-lian uprising and Hekou uprising. Because of
these failures, Sun's leadership was challenged by elements from within the Tongmenghui who wished to remove
him as leader.

On 27 April 1911, revolutionary Huang Xing led a second Guangzhou uprising known as the Yellow Flower
Mound revolt against the Qing. The revolt failed and ended in disaster; the bodies of only 72 revolutionaries were
found.[73] The revolutionaries are remembered as martyrs. On 10 October 1911, a military uprising at Wuchang
took place led again by Huang Xing. At the time, Sun had no direct involvement as he was still in exile. Huang
was in charge of the revolution that ended over 2000 years of imperial rule in China.

When Sun learned of the successful rebellion against the Qing emperor from press reports, he returned to China
from the United States accompanied by his closest foreign advisor, the American, "General" Homer Lea. He
met Lea in London, where he and Lea unsuccessfully tried to arrange British financing for the new Chinese
republic. Sun and Lea then sailed for China, arriving there on 21 December 1911.

The uprising expanded to the Xinhai Revolution also known as the "Chinese Revolution" to overthrow the last
Emperor, Puyi. After this event, 10 October became known as the commemoration of Double Ten Day.
On 29 December 1911 a meeting of representatives from provinces in Nanking (Nanjing) elected Sun Yat-sen as
the "provisional president". 1 January 1912 was set as the first day of the First Year of the Republic. Li Yuanhong
was made provisional vice-president and Huang Xing became the minister of the army. The new Provisional
Government of the Republic of China was created along with the Provisional Constitution of the Republic of
China. Sun is credited for the funding of the revolutions and for keeping the spirit of revolution alive, even after a
series of failed uprisings. His successful merger of minor revolutionary groups to a single larger party provided a
better base for all those who shared the same ideals. A number of things were introduced such as the republic
calendar system and new fashion like Zhongshan suits.

Yuan Shikai, who controlled the Beiyang Army, the military of northern China, was promised the position of
President of the Republic of China if he could get the Qing court to abdicate.[78] On 12 February 1912 Emperor
Puyi did abdicate the throne.[77] Sun stepped down as President, and Yuan became the new provisional president
in Beijing on 10 March 1912.[78] 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 there were still significant forces which
still had not declared against the Qing.
Sun Yat-sen sent telegrams to the leaders of all provinces requesting them to elect and to establish the National
Assembly of the Republic of China in 1912.[79] In May 1912 the legislative assembly moved from Nanjing to
Beijing with its 120 members divided between members of Tongmenghui and a Republican party that supported
Yuan Shikai.[80] Many revolutionary members were already alarmed by Yuan's ambitions and the northern based
Beiyang government.
Nationalist party and Second Revolution[edit]
Tongmenghui member Song Jiaoren quickly tried to control the parliament. He mobilized the old Tongmenghui at
the core with the merger of a number of new small parties to form a new political party called the Kuomintang
(Chinese nationalist party, commonly abbreviated as "KMT") on 25 August 1912 at Huguang Guild Hall
Beijing.[80] The 1912–1913 National assembly election was considered a huge success for the KMT winning 269
of the 596 seats in the lower house and 123 of the 274 senate seats.[78][80] The Second Revolution took place
where Sun and KMT military forces tried to overthrow Yuan's forces of about 80,000 men in an armed conflict in
July 1913.[81] The revolt against Yuan was unsuccessful. Sun was forced to seek asylum in Japan with politician
and industrialist Fusanosuke Kuhara. In retaliation the national party leader Song Jiaoren was assassinated, almost
certainly by a secret order of Yuan, on 20 March 1913.[78]
Political chaos[edit]
In 1915 Yuan Shikai proclaimed the Empire of China (1915–1916) with himself as Emperor of China. Sun took
part in the Anti-Monarchy war of the Constitutional Protection Movement, while also supporting bandit leaders
like Bai Lang during the Bai Lang Rebellion. This marked the beginning of the Warlord Era. In 1915 Sun wrote to
the Second International, a socialist-based organization in Paris, asking it to send a team of specialists to help
China set up the world's first socialist republic.[82] At the time there were many theories and proposals of what
China could be. In the political mess, both Sun Yat-sen and Xu Shichang were announced as President of the
Republic of China.[83]
Path to Northern Expedition[edit]
Guangzhou militarist government[edit]

(L-R): Liao Zhongkai, Chiang Kai-shek, Sun Yat-sen and Soong Ching-ling at the founding of the Whampoa
Military Academy in 1924
China had become divided between different military leaders without a proper central government. Sun saw the
danger of this and returned to China in 1917 to advocate Chinese reunification. In 1921 he started a self-
proclaimed military government in Guangzhou and was elected Grand Marshal.[84] Between 1912 and 1927 three
governments had been set up in South China: the Provisional government in Nanjing (1912), the Military
government in Guangzhou (1921–1925), and the National government in Guangzhou and later Wuhan (1925–
1927).[85] The southern separatist government in the South was established to rival the Beiyang government in
the north.[84] Yuan Shikai had banned the KMT. The short lived Chinese Revolutionary Party was a temporary
replacement for the KMT. On 10 October 1919 Sun resurrected the KMT with the new name Chung-kuo
Kuomintang (simplified Chinese: 中国国民党; traditional Chinese: 中國國民黨; pinyin: Zhōngguó guómíndǎng),
or the "Nationalist Party of China".[80]
KMT–CPC cooperation[edit]

Sun Yat-sen (seated on right) and Chiang Kai-shek

By this time Sun had become convinced that the only hope for a unified China lay in a military conquest from his
base in the south, followed by a period of political tutelage that would culminate in the transition to democracy. In
order to hasten the conquest of China, he began a policy of active cooperation with the Communist Party of China
(CPC). Sun and the Soviet Union's Adolph Joffe signed the Sun-Joffe Manifesto in January 1923.[86] Sun
received help from the Comintern for his acceptance of communist members into his KMT. Revolutionary and
socialist leader Vladimir Lenin praised Sun and the KMT for their ideology and principles. Lenin praised Sun and
his attempts at social reformation, and also congratulated him for fighting foreign Imperialism.[87][88][89] Sun
also returned the praise, calling him a "great man", and sent his congratulations on the revolution in Russia.[90]
With the Soviets' help, Sun was able to develop the military power needed for the Northern Expedition against the
military at the north. He established the Whampoa Military Academy near Guangzhou with Chiang Kai-shek as
the commandant of the National Revolutionary Army (NRA).[91] Other Whampoa leaders include Wang Jingwei
and Hu Hanmin as political instructors. This full collaboration was called the First United Front.
Finance concerns[edit]
In 1924 Sun appointed his brother-in-law T. V. Soong to set up the first Chinese Central bank called the Canton
Central Bank.[92] To establish national capitalism and a banking system was a major objective for the KMT.[93]
However Sun was not without some opposition as there was the Canton volunteers corps uprising against him.
Final speeches[edit]

Sun (seated, right) and his wife Soong Ching-ling (seated next to him) in Kobe, Japan in 1924
In February 1923 Sun made a presentation to the Students' Union in Hong Kong University and declared that it
was the corruption of China and the peace, order and good government of Hong Kong that turned him into a
revolutionary.[94][95] This same year, he delivered a speech in which he proclaimed his Three Principles of the
People as the foundation of the country and the Five-Yuan Constitution as the guideline for the political system
and bureaucracy. Part of the speech was made into the National Anthem of the Republic of China.
On 10 November 1924, Sun traveled north to Tianjin and delivered a speech to suggest a gathering for a "national
conference" for the Chinese people. It called for the end of warlord rules and the abolition of all unequal treaties
with the Western powers.[96] 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 he met was the Muslim
General Ma Fuxiang, who informed Sun that they would welcome his leadership.[97] On 28 November 1924 Sun
traveled to Japan and gave a speech on Pan-Asianism at Kobe, Japan.[98]
Illness and death[edit]
For many years, it was popularly believed that Sun died of liver cancer. On 26 January 1925, Sun underwent an
exploratory laparotomy at Peking Union Medical College Hospital (PUMCH) to investigate a long-term illness.
This was performed by the head of the Department of Surgery, Adrian S. Taylor, who stated that the procedure
"revealed extensive involvement of the liver by carcinoma" and that Sun only had about ten days to live. Sun was
hospitalized and his condition was treated with radium. [99] 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 with traditional
Chinese medicine. This too was unsuccessful and he died on 12 March at the age of 58.[100] Contemporary
reports in The New York Times,[100] Time,[101] and the Chinese newspaper Qun Qiang Bao all reported the
cause of death as liver cancer, based on Taylor's observation.[102]
Following this the body then was preserved in mineral oil[103] and taken to the Temple of Azure Clouds, a
Buddhist shrine in the Western Hills a few miles outside of Beijing.[104][105] He also left a short political will (
總理遺囑) penned by Wang Jingwei, which had a widespread influence in the subsequent development of the
Republic of China and Taiwan.[106]
In 1926, construction began on a majestic mausoleum at the foot of Purple Mountain in Nanjing, and this was
completed in the spring of 1929. On 1 June 1929, Sun's remains were moved from Beijing and interred in the Sun
Yat-sen Mausoleum.
By pure chance, in May 2016, an American pathologist named Rolf F. Barth was visiting the Sun Yat-sen
Memorial Hall in Guangzhou 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 a tissue sample,
Cash concluded that the cause of death was an adenocarcinoma in the gallbladder that had metastasized to the
liver. In modern China, liver cancer is far more common than gallbladder cancer and although the incidence rates
of either in 1925 are not known, if one assumes that they were similar at that time, then the original diagnosis by
Taylor was a logical conclusion. From the time of Sun's death until the appearance of Barth's report[107] in the
Chinese Journal of Cancer in September 2016 (now known as Cancer Communications[108] since March 1,
2018), the true cause of death of Sun Yat-sen was not reported in any English-language publication. Even in
Chinese-language sources, it only appeared in one non-medical online report in 2013.[99][109]
Legacy[edit]
Power struggle[edit]

Chinese Generals pay tribute to the Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum in Beijing in 1928 after the success of the Northern
Expedition. From right to left, are Generals Cheng Jin (何成浚), Zhang Zuobao (張作寶), Chen Diaoyuan (陳調
元), Chiang Kai-shek, Woo Tsin-hang, Yan Xishan, Ma Fuxiang, Ma Sida (馬四達), and Bai Chongxi.
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. In 1927 Chiang Kai-shek married Soong Mei-ling, a sister of Sun's widow Soong Ching-ling, and
subsequently he could claim to be a brother-in-law of Sun. 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, a conflict that continued
through World War II. Sun's widow, 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 People's Republic of China and as
Honorary President shortly before her death in 1981.
Cult of personality[edit]
A personality cult in the Republic of China was centered on Sun and his successor, Generalissimo Chiang Kai-
shek. Chinese Muslim Generals and Imams participated in this cult of personality and one party state, with
Muslim General Ma Bufang making people bow to Sun's portrait and listen to the national anthem during a
Tibetan and Mongol religious ceremony for the Qinghai Lake God.[110] Quotes from the Quran and Hadith were
used by Muslims to justify Chiang Kai-shek's rule over China.[111]
The Kuomintang's constitution designated Sun as 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), which discharge the functions of the president.
Father of the Nation[edit]

Statue in the Mausoleum, Kuomintang flag on the ceiling

Sun Yat-sen remains unique among 20th-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 Father of the Nation, Mr. Sun Zhongshan (Chinese: 國父 孫中山先生, where the one-
character space is a traditional homage symbol).[10] His likeness 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.
"Forerunner of the revolution"[edit]
On the mainland, Sun is seen as a Chinese nationalist, proto-socialist, first president of a Republican China and is
highly regarded as the Forerunner of the Revolution (革命先行者).[86] He is even 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 increasingly invoked 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 Taiwan 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 pan-blue visit to mainland China in 2005.[112] A massive portrait
of Sun continues to appear in Tiananmen Square for May Day and National Day.
Religious veneration[edit]
Sun is venerated as a Saint in Đạo Cao Đài, a religion established in Vietnam in 1926. He, along with the two
other Saints Victor Hugo and Nguyễn Bỉnh Khiêm, represented mankind to declare the Alliance (peaceful treaty)
with God.[113]
Family[edit]
Main article: Family tree of Sun Yat-sen

Lu Muzhen (1867–1952), Sun's first wife from 1885 to 1915

Sun Yat-sen was born to Sun Dacheng (孫達成) and his wife, lady Yang (楊氏) on 12 November 1866.[114] At
the time his father was age 53, while 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).[25]
At age 20, Sun had an arranged marriage with fellow villager Lu Muzhen. She bore a son, Sun Fo, and two
daughters, Sun Jinyuan (孫金媛) and Sun Jinwan (孫金婉).[25] Sun Fo was the grandfather of Leland Sun, who
spent 37 years working in Hollywood as an actor and stuntman.[115] Sun Yat-sen was also the godfather of Paul
Myron Anthony Linebarger, American author and poet who wrote under the name Cordwainer Smith.[116]
Sun's first concubine, the Hong Kong-born Chen Cuifen, lived in Taiping, Perak, Malaysia for 17 years. The
couple adopted a local girl as their daughter. Cuifen subsequently relocated to China, where she passed
away.[117]
On 25 October 1915 in Japan, Sun married Soong Ching-ling, one of the Soong sisters,[25][118] Soong Ching-
Ling's father was the American-educated Methodist minister Charles Soong, who made a fortune in banking and
in printing of Bibles. Although Charles Soong had been a personal friend of Sun's, he was enraged when Sun
announced his intention to marry Ching-ling because while Sun was a Christian he kept two wives, Lu Muzhen
and Kaoru Otsuki; Soong viewed Sun's actions as running directly against their shared religion.
Soong Ching-Ling's sister, Soong Mei-ling, later married Chiang Kai-shek.
Cultural references[edit]
Memorials and structures in Asia[edit]

Aerial perspective of Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall in central Singapore. Taken in 2016

The current NT$100 banknote design portraying Sun

In most major Chinese cities one of the main streets is named Zhongshan Lu (中山路) to celebrate his memory.
There are also numerous parks, schools, and geographical features named after him. Xiangshan, Sun's hometown
in Guangdong, was renamed Zhongshan in his honor, and there is a hall dedicated to his memory at the Temple of
Azure Clouds in Beijing. There are also a series of Sun Yat-sen stamps.
Other references to Sun include the Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou and National Sun Yat-sen University in
Kaohsiung. Other structures include Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum, Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall subway station, Sun
Yat-sen house in Nanjing, Dr. Sun Yat-sen Museum in Hong Kong, Chung-Shan Building, Sun Yat-sen Memorial
Hall in Taipei and Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall in Singapore. Zhongshan Memorial Middle School has
also been a name used by many schools. Zhongshan Park is also a common name used for a number of places
named after him. The first highway in Taiwan is called the Sun Yat-sen expressway. Two ships are also named
after him, the Chinese gunboat Chung Shan and Chinese cruiser Yat Sen. The old Chinatown in Calcutta (now
known as Kolkata), India has a prominent street by the name of Sun Yat-sen street. There are also two streets
named after Sun Yat-sen, located in the cities of Astrakhan and Ufa, Russia.
In George Town, Penang, Malaysia, the Penang Philomatic Union had its premises at 120 Armenian Street in
1910, during the time when Sun spent more than four months in Penang, convened the historic "Penang
Conference" to launch the fundraising campaign for the Huanghuagang Uprising and founded the Kwong Wah Yit
Poh; this house, which has been preserved as the Sun Yat-sen Museum (formerly called the Sun Yat Sen Penang
Base), was visited by President designate Hu Jintao in 2002. The Penang Philomatic Union subsequently moved
to a bungalow at 65 Macalister Road which has been preserved as the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Centre Penang.
As dedication, the 1966 Chinese Cultural Renaissance was launched on Sun's birthday on 12 November.[119]
The Nanyang Wan Qing Yuan in Singapore have since been preserved and renamed as the Sun Yat Sen Nanyang
Memorial Hall.[66] A Sun Yat-sen heritage trail was also launched on 20 November 2010 in Penang.[120]
Sun's US citizen Hawaii birth certificate that show he was not born in the ROC, but instead born in the US was on
public display at the American Institute in Taiwan on US Independence day 4 July 2011.[121]
A street in Medan, Indonesia is named "Jalan Sun Yat-Sen" in honour of him.[122]
Gallery[edit]

Mausoleum of Sun Yat-sen, Nanjing.

Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, Taipei

Sun Yat-sen Memorial Centre, George Town, Penang, Malaysia

A marker on the Sun Yat-sen Historical Trail on Hong Kong Island

Dr Sun Yat-sen on a 1960 ND 10 New Taiwan dollar banknote of Taiwan)

Memorials and structures outside of Asia[edit]

Sun Yat-Sen monument in Chinatown area of Los Angeles, California

St. John's University in New York City has a facility built in 1973, the Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall, built to
resemble a traditional Chinese building in honor of Sun.[123] Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden is
located in Vancouver, the largest classical Chinese gardens outside of Asia. There is the Dr. Sun Yat-sen
Memorial Park in Chinatown, Honolulu.[124] On the island of Maui, there is the little Sun Yat-sen Park at
Kamaole. It is located near to where his older brother had a ranch on the slopes of Haleakala in the Kula
region.[16][17][18][45]
In Chinatown, Los Angeles, there is a seated statue of him in Central Plaza.[125] In Sacramento, California there
is a bronze statue of Sun in front of the Chinese Benevolent Association of Sacramento. Another statue of Sun
Yat-sen by Joe Rosenthal can be found at Riverdale Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. There is also the Moscow
Sun Yat-sen University. In Chinatown, San Francisco, there is a 12-foot statue of him on St. Mary's Square.[126]
In late 2011, the Chinese Youth Society of Melbourne, in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the founding of
the Republic of China, unveiled, in a Lion Dance Blessing ceremony, a memorial statue of Sun outside the
Chinese Museum in Melbourne's Chinatown, on the spot where their traditional Chinese New Year Lion Dance
always ends.[127]

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 the Kapi'olani Community College library as part of the "Sun Yat-sen Asian collection".[128]
During October and November every year the entire collection is shown.[128] In 1997 the "Dr Sun Yat-sen
Hawaii foundation" was formed online as a virtual library.[128] In 2006 the NASA Mars Exploration Rover Spirit
labeled one of the hills explored "Zhongshan".[129]
The plaque shown earlier in this article is by Dora Gordine, and is situated on the site of Sun's lodgings in London
in 1896, 8 Grays Inn Place. There is also a blue plaque commemorating Sun at The Kennels, Cottered,
Hertfordshire, the country home of the Cantlies where Sun came to recuperate after his rescue from the legation in
1896.[citation needed]
A street named Sun Yat-Sen Avenue is located in Markham, Ontario. This is the first such street name outside of
Asia.[citation needed]
In popular culture[edit]
Opera[edit]

Sun Yat-sen tribute in Tiananmen Square, 2010

Dr. Sun Yat-sen[130] (中山逸仙; ZhōngShān yì xiān) is a 2011 Chinese-language western-style opera in three
acts by the New York-based American composer Huang Ruo who was born in China and is a graduate of Oberlin
College's Conservatory as well as the Juilliard School. The libretto was written by Candace Mui-ngam Chong, a
recent collaborator with playwright David Henry Hwang.[131] It was performed in Hong Kong in October 2011
and will be given its North American premiere on 26 July 2014 at The Santa Fe Opera.
TV series and films[edit]
The life of Sun is portrayed in various films, mainly The Soong Sisters and Road to Dawn. A fictionalized
assassination attempt on his life was featured in Bodyguards and Assassins. He is also portrayed during his
struggle to overthrow the Qing dynasty in Once Upon a Time in China II. The TV series Towards the Republic
features Ma Shaohua as Sun Yat-sen. In the 100th anniversary tribute of the film 1911, Winston Chao played
Sun.[132] In Space: Above and Beyond, one of the starships of the China Navy is named the Sun Yat-sen.[133]
Performances[edit]
In 2010 a theatrical play Yellow Flower on Slopes (斜路黃花) was created and performed.[134] In 2011 there is
also a Mandopop group called "Zhongsan Road 100" (中山路100號) known for singing the song "Our Father of
the Nation" (我們國父).[135]
Controversy[edit]
New Three Principles of the People[edit]
At one time CPC general secretary and PRC president Jiang Zemin claimed Sun Yat-sen had a "New Three
Principles of the People" (新三民主義) which consisted of "working with the soviets, working with the
communists and helping the farmers" (聯俄, 聯共, 扶助工農).[136][137] Lily Sun said the CPC was distorting
Sun's legacy in 2001. She then voiced her displeasure in 2002 in a private letter to Jiang about the distortion of
history.[136] In 2008 Jiang Zemin was willing to offer US$10 million to sponsor a Xinhai Revolution anniversary
celebration event. According to Ming Pao she could not take the money because she would no longer have the
freedom to communicate the revolution.[136] This concept is still currently available on Baike Baidu.
KMT emblem removal case[edit]
In 1981 Lily Sun took a trip to Sun Yat-sen mausoleum in Nanjing, People's Republic of China. 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 characters "General Rules of Meetings" (會議通則),
a document that Sun wrote in reference to Robert's Rules of Order had been removed from a stone carving.[136]
Father of Independent Taiwan issue[edit]
In November 2004 the ROC Ministry of Education proposed that Sun Yat-sen was not the father of Taiwan.
Instead Sun was a foreigner from mainland China.[138] Taiwanese Education minister Tu Cheng-sheng and
Examination Yuan member Lin Yu-ti (zh), both of whom supported the proposal, had their portraits pelted with
eggs in protest.[139] At a Sun Yat-sen statue in Kaohsiung, a 70-year-old ROC retired soldier committed suicide
as a way to protest the ministry proposal on the anniversary of Sun's birthday 12 November.[138][139]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_Yat-sen