Biography Of Sun Yat-sen – Free PDF Download

• Sun Wen was born on 12 November 1866 to Sun Dacheng and Madame Yang. His birthplace was the village of Cuiheng, Xiangshan County (now Zhongshan City), Guangdong.
• His father owned very little land 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.
• At the age of 10, Sun began seeking schooling.By age 13 in 1878, after receiving a few years of local schooling, Sun went to live with his elder brother, Sun Mei Honolulu.

EARLY LIFE

• During his stay in Honolulu, Sun Yat-sen went to ʻIolani School where he studied English, British history, mathematics, science, and Christianity.
• In 1883 he was sent home to China as his brother was becoming worried that Sun Yat-sen was beginning to embrace Christianity.
• In Hong Kong in 1883 he studied at the Diocesan Boys’ School, and from 1884 to 1886 he was at The Government Central School.In 1886 Sun studied medicine at the Guangzhou Boji Hospital.

 THE RISING

• During the Qing-dynasty rebellion around 1888, Sun was in Hong Kong with a group of revolutionary thinkers who were nicknamed the Four Bandits.
• In 1891, Sun met revolutionary friends in Hong Kong including Yeung Ku-wan who was the leader and founder of the Furen Literary Society.
• The group was spreading the idea of overthrowing the Qing. 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.

 UPRISINGS

• In 1895, China suffered a serious defeat during the First Sino-Japanese War. Sun Yat-sen wanted a revolution to replace the dynastic system with a modern nation-state in the form of a republic.
• In the second year of the establishment of the Revive China society on 26 October 1895, the group planned and launched the First Guangzhou uprising against the Qing in Guangzhou.The uprising was a failure.Sun Yat-sen spent time living in Japan while in exile.
• On 22 October 1900, Sun launched the Huizhou uprising to attack Huizhou and provincial authorities in Guangdong.This uprising was also a failure.

UPRISINGS

• 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.
• A “Heaven and Earth Society” sect known as Tiandihui had been around for a long time. Sun Yat-sen mainly used this group to leverage his overseas travels to gain further financial and resource support for his revolution.
• The Singapore chapter of the Tongmenghui was established on 6 April 1906. At this point Singapore was the headquarters of the Tongmenghui.The United Chinese Library, founded on 8 August 1910.

 REVOLUTION

• In 1903, Sun made a secret trip to Bangkok in which he sought funds for his cause in Southeast Asia. In 1907 there were a total of four uprisings. In 1908 two more uprisings failed.
• Because of these failures, Sun’s leadership was challenged by elements from within the Tongmenghui who wished to remove him as leader.
• The revolutionaries were polarized and split between pro-Sun and anti-Sun campsTo sponsor more uprisings, Sun made a personal plea for financial aid at the Penang conference held on 13 November 1910 in Malaya.

 REVOLUTION

• 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.
• On 10 October 1911, a military uprising at Wuchang took place led again by Huang Xing. 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.

 POLITICS

• 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.
• Yuan Shikai, who controlled the Beiyang Army, the military of northern China, was promised the position of President of the Republic of China. On 12 February 1912 Emperor Puyi did abdicate the throne.
• Sun stepped down as President, and Yuan became the new provisional president in Beijing on 10 March 1912.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.

POLITICS

• 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.
• 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.
• 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.The revolt against Yuan was unsuccessful. In August 1913, Sun Yat-sen fled to Japan.
• In 1915 Yuan Shikai proclaimed the Empire of China (1915– 1916) with himself as Emperor of China.

POWER STRUGGLE

• China had become divided among regional military leaders. 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. 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).
• Yuan Shikai had banned the KMT. On 10 October 1919 Sun resurrected the KMT.By this time Sun had become convinced that the only hope for a unified China lay in a military conquest.

POWER STRUGGLE

• In order to hasten the conquest of China, he began a policy of active cooperation with the Communist Party of China (CPC).
• 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).
• 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.

DEATH

• Sun passed his final days by signing the pithy “political testament,” urging his followers to hold true to his goals in carrying the revolution through to victory.
• He also signed a highly controversial valedictory (farewell address) to the Soviet Union to reaffirm the alliance against Western domination. The following day, March 12, 1925, Sun died in Peking, China.

Biography Free PDF

Sharing is caring!