Sun Yat-sen
(November 12, 1866 – March 12, 1925) was a Chinese revolutionary and political
leader often referred to as the Father of Modern China. Sun played an instrumental
role in the eventual collapse of the Qing Dynasty in 1911. He was the first
provisional president when the Republic of China (ROC) was founded in 1912 and
later co-founded the Kuomintang (KMT) where he served as its first leader. Sun
was a uniting figure in post-Imperial China, and remains unique among
20th-century Chinese politicians for being widely revered in both Mainland
China and in Taiwan.
Although Sun
is considered one of the greatest leaders of modern China, his political life
was one of constant struggle and frequent exile. After the success of the
revolution, he quickly fell out of power in the newly-founded Republic of
China, 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 bring
about consolidation of power over the country. His party, which formed a
fragile alliance with the Communists, split into two factions after his death.
Sun's chief legacy resides in his developing a political philosophy known as
the Three Principles of the People
(The People's Relation/Connection, The People's Power, and the People's
Livelihood/Welfare, or sometimes known as nationalism, democracy, and socialism
depending on the translation).