Sun Yat-Sen
I. Introduction
Sun Yat-sen was a Chinese revolutionary born in 1866 and the first provisional president when the Republic of China was founded in 1912. Though commonly referred to as one of the greatest leaders of modern China, his political career was one of uncertainty and turmoil and being widely revered by the people, Sun was subject to frequent exile and a generally very fragile existence It was during his exile to Europe that Sun made key observations about Western economies and governance, which he would use to produce his most influential political philosophies. He died in 1924, with China in ruins, torn by the anarchy and violence.
Sun is regarded by many Western academics as one of the most important and influential Chinese political thinkers of at least the last hundred years. His philosophies reflect both Chinese socialism and Western constitutional and democratic theory. The potential of his works is to develop a hybrid of Eastern and Western political philosophy, consolidating Chinese traditionalism with the increasingly dominant presence of Western philosophical influence.
This paper will examine the political philosophy of Sun Yat-Sen from his work: “Fundamentals of National reconstruction” which was Published in 1919. Generally accepted to be Sun’s most important political statement, ‘it enunciates his infamous three principles whereby he set China on its path to modernity’ .
Sun based his theory of revolution on three principles: nationalism, democracy and equalitization
. These three principles were eventually referred to as the ‘three peoples principles’ and Sun believed them to be the key to the unification and modernization of China.
This paper will examine each of these three principles in turn, examining Sun’s reasoning behind and justification for each of them. For each, I shall also demonstrate how Sun’s principles either compliment or clash with the principles of Western constitutionalism and how they might relate to the
Sun Yat-sen was a Chinese revolutionary born in 1866 and the first provisional president when the Republic of China was founded in 1912. Though commonly referred to as one of the greatest leaders of modern China, his political career was one of uncertainty and turmoil and being widely revered by the people, Sun was subject to frequent exile and a generally very fragile existence It was during his exile to Europe that Sun made key observations about Western economies and governance, which he would use to produce his most influential political philosophies. He died in 1924, with China in ruins, torn by the anarchy and violence.
Sun is regarded by many Western academics as one of the most important and influential Chinese political thinkers of at least the last hundred years. His philosophies reflect both Chinese socialism and Western constitutional and democratic theory. The potential of his works is to develop a hybrid of Eastern and Western political philosophy, consolidating Chinese traditionalism with the increasingly dominant presence of Western philosophical influence.
This paper will examine the political philosophy of Sun Yat-Sen from his work: “Fundamentals of National reconstruction” which was Published in 1919. Generally accepted to be Sun’s most important political statement, ‘it enunciates his infamous three principles whereby he set China on its path to modernity’ .
Sun based his theory of revolution on three principles: nationalism, democracy and equalitization
. These three principles were eventually referred to as the ‘three peoples principles’ and Sun believed them to be the key to the unification and modernization of China.
This paper will examine each of these three principles in turn, examining Sun’s reasoning behind and justification for each of them. For each, I shall also demonstrate how Sun’s principles either compliment or clash with the principles of Western constitutionalism and how they might relate to the