Revolutionary · 1866 – 1925
Sun Yat-sen
Key Takeaways
- Sun Yat-sen led the revolution that overthrew the Qing dynasty in 1911.
- He founded the Republic of China in 1912 and co-founded the Kuomintang party.
- His Three Principles of the People shaped Chinese political thought.
- He is uniquely revered by both the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China (Taiwan).
Sun Yat-sen toppled an empire and gave China a republic — though he did not live to see what his successors would make of it. The Father of the Nation, he is uniquely claimed by both Communist Beijing and Nationalist Taipei as their founding father.
Overthrowing the empire
Sun spent decades plotting revolution, launching multiple failed attempts before the Xinhai Revolution of 1911 finally succeeded, ending more than 2,000 years of imperial rule in China. He became the first provisional president of the Republic of China but quickly ceded power to military strongman Yuan Shikai in the interest of unity — a decision that led to years of warlordism. He spent the rest of his short life reorganizing the Nationalist movement with Soviet help and developing his Three Principles: nationalism, democracy, and people’s livelihood.
A legacy fought over
Sun died in 1925, too soon to see the civil war that would divide his movement. Chiang Kai-shek inherited his Nationalist Party; Mao Zedong claimed his revolutionary mantle. Both built very different Chinas — but both hung his portrait as their founding father. The man who ended imperial China belongs, uniquely, to all of it.
Influence
Sun Yat-sen destroyed imperial China and created the framework for the republic that his successors — both Nationalist and Communist — fought over and built upon.
Legacy
Uniquely honored by both sides of the Taiwan Strait, his portrait hangs in Beijing's Tiananmen Square and Taipei's National Assembly — the only figure both Chinese states claim as their founding father.
Connections
Frequently Asked Questions
Who was Sun Yat-sen?
Sun Yat-sen (1866–1925) was the Chinese revolutionary who overthrew the Qing dynasty, founded the Republic of China in 1912, and became the founding father of modern China, revered by both Nationalists and Communists.
Citations & Sources
People Like Sun
Chiang Kai-shek
82Chiang Kai-shek was the Chinese Nationalist leader who unified China in the late 1920s, led the country through the Japanese invasion in World War II, but lost the Chinese Civil War to Mao Zedong and retreated to Taiwan, which he ruled until his death.
Why His successor as Nationalist leader, who inherited his movement and took it to civil war and Taiwan.
Mao Zedong
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