Scripted Role Play

Scripted Role Play: Historical Empathy

Sun Yat-Sen – ‘Father of the Chinese National Revolution’
Sun Yat-Sen was a revolutionary nationalist who believed that the only way that China could move forward in the early 1900’s was to become a republic and adopt the west’s traditions in industry and agriculture. He was convinced that unless China did this, the nation was going to remain behind and backwards against dominant western powers. He led China into a revolution overthrowing the crippled and corrupt Manchu Qing dynasty. This is an interview with Dr Sun Yat-Sen.

How were you educated?
In 1879, at the age of thirteen, my family sent me to Honolulu in Hawaii to join my older brother Sun Mei. I enrolled at Lolani School as a boarding student from 1879 and graduated in 1882. I studied western science, and I learned a great deal about western culture and also Christianity. All my teachers described me as a talented student and I further went on to study medicine in Hong Kong. My education helped me to develop my progressive views to change an old and traditional China.

What political ideas did you develop?
I developed the idea that China couldn’t move forward unless it were to become a republic and adopt the traditions of the west. I thought that the Imperial system was out dated and the best way for China to modernise itself was to overthrow the Imperial system. I planned an anti-Qing rebellion in 1896 from Hong Kong in order to attempt to bring down the dynasty. It however failed and I had to flee to Japan. Although, I continued my revolutionary work. I travelled throughout Europe, Vietnam and the United States where I managed to raise funds for my work and came up with my own revolutionary philosophy which I named the ‘three principles of the people’ which translate to nationalism, democracy and the livelihood of the people.
Nationalism means the people’s rule or government. By this, I meant freedom from imperial domination, I thought that the Han Chinese should rule themselves rather than be ruled by the Manchu.
Democracy means the ‘people’s power’ or ‘government by the people.’ To me, this represented a western constitutional government. Democracy was to be applied in three stages as China had little experience with modern political institutions. The stages were:
1. Three years of military dictatorship to ensure political and social stability.
2. A teaching period of six years during which democratic procedures would be explained and trialled.
3. After nine years the military government would be separated, a new constitution drawn up and popular elections held.
The people’s livelihood or welfare spoke of improving the welfare if China’s working people. The concept may be understood as social welfare and as a direct criticism of the inadequacies of socialism and capitalism.

How did you organise the revolutionary movement, the Tongmenghui?
In 1905, I brought a combination of different revolutionary groups to form an alliance called the Tongmenghui. I was very proud of this group as it represented a diverse range of allied anti-Qing revolutionary groups. Between 1906 and 1908, we performed five uprisings and three out of four of the major anti-Manchu rebellions which were sponsored by my group the Tongmenghui.

How did you spread your message of revolution to the people?
We created a people’s newspaper entitled Minbao which means the ‘peoples paper’ which was secretly smuggled into China to inform my brothers and sisters on revolutionary thinking in Chinese society. Students were very eager to want to change and modernize China.

Can you explain how you organised your uprisings? Were they successful?
To organise my uprisings, I recruited young Chinese men to study at modern universities and to follow Qing educational reforms. We had 10,000 members in Tongmenghui by 1906 and received funding from Chinese communities overseas. By then, I had enough men and funding to incite my brothers to uprise! Unfortunately, none of the five uprisings we staged were successful or gained any wider support, however the fall of the Qing dynasty was inspired greatly through my efforts and revolutionary ideas and principles.

What was the spark that caused the revolution? The spark that caused the revolution is now known as the ‘Double Tenth,’ due to it occurring on the 10th of October, 1911. New army officers that had connections to my Tongmenghui were assembling a bomb which happened to exploded prematurely in the city of Wuhan, Hubei province. The soldiers were planning an uprising but due to the bomb going off early, they had to bring forward their plans. The provincial governor was forced to flee the city which gave control to the soldiers of the whole of the Hubei province. Within six weeks, fifteen of China’s twenty four provinces declared independence from the Qing dynasty. Once I had heard of these uprisings, I returned to China and assumed a significant role as a leading figure in the Chinese revolutionary movement. On the 29th of December, a provisional government of the Republic of China was proclaimed and I was selected as its provisional president even though, the Qing dynasty still remained in power in Bejing.

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Bibliography
Tom Ryan 2009 – A study in Revolution: China Rising - HTAV

Sun Yat-Sen (1883), Punahou School, accessed: 3/4/2014, http://www.punahou.edu/alumni/community-groups/alumni-profiles/sun-yat-sen/index.aspx Sun Yat-Sen, infoplease, accessed: 3/4/1014, http://www.infoplease.com/encyclopedia/people/sun-yat-sen.html

Bibliography: Tom Ryan 2009 – A study in Revolution: China Rising - HTAV Sun Yat-Sen (1883), Punahou School, accessed: 3/4/2014, http://www.punahou.edu/alumni/community-groups/alumni-profiles/sun-yat-sen/index.aspx Sun Yat-Sen, infoplease, accessed: 3/4/1014, http://www.infoplease.com/encyclopedia/people/sun-yat-sen.html