Sun Yat-sen

Father of the Nation[a] Forerunner of the Revolution Sun Yat-sen
孫逸仙
Sun in 1922
1st Provisional President of the Republic of China
In office 1 January 1912 – 10 March 1912
Vice President	Li Yuanhong
Preceded by	Office established
Succeeded by	Yuan Shikai
Premier of the Kuomintang
In office 10 October 1919 – 12 March 1925
Preceded by	Office established
Succeeded by	Zhang Renjie (as Chairman)
Personal details
Born	Sun Te-ming (孫德明) (1866-11-12)12 November 1866 Cuiheng, Kwangtung, China
Died	12 March 1925(1925-03-12) (aged 58) Peking, China
Resting place	Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum
Political party	Kuomintang
Other political affiliations	Chinese United League Revive China Society
Spouses	Lu Muzhen ​ ​ (m. 1885; div. 1915)​ Kaoru Otsuki ​ ​ (m. 1905; a. 1906)​ Soong Ching-ling ​ (m. 1915)​ Chen Cuifen (concubine, 1892–1925) Haru Asada (concubine, 1897–1902)
Children	4, including Sun Fo
Parents	Sun Da-cheng (孫達成) (father) Madame Yang (mother)
Education	Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese (MD)
Profession	Physician statesman
Signature (Chinese)
Signature
Military service
Branch/service	Republic of China Army
Years of service	1917–1925
Rank	Dayuanshuai
Battles/wars	1911 Revolution Second Revolution Constitutional Protection Movement Guangdong–Guangxi War Warlord Era
Sun Yat-sen's voice On the Three Principles of the People Recorded in Guangzhou on 30 May 1924
Common name in English
Traditional Chinese	孫逸仙
Simplified Chinese	孙逸仙
Hanyu Pinyin	Sūn Yìxiān
Jyutping	Syun1 Jat6-sin1
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Sūn Yìxiān Bopomofo ㄙㄨㄣ ㄧˋ ㄒㄧㄢ Wade–Giles Sun1 Yi4-hsien1 Tongyong Pinyin Sun Yì-sian IPA [swə́n î.ɕjɛ́n] Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Syūn Yaht-sīn Jyutping Syun1 Jat6-sin1 Hong Kong Romanisation Suen Yat-sin IPA [syn˥ jɐt̚˨ sin˥] Southern Min Hokkien POJ Sun E̍k-sian
Common name in Chinese
Traditional Chinese	孫中山
Simplified Chinese	孙中山
Hanyu Pinyin	Sūn Zhōngshān
Jyutping	Syun1 Zung1-saan1
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Sūn Zhōngshān Bopomofo ㄙㄨㄣ ㄓㄨㄥ ㄕㄢ Wade–Giles Sun1 Chung1-shan1 Tongyong Pinyin Sun Jhong-shan IPA [swə́n ʈʂʊ́ŋ.ʂán] Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Syūn Jūng sāan Jyutping Syun1 Zung1-saan1 IPA [syn˥ tsʊŋ˥ san˥] Southern Min Hokkien POJ Sun Tiong-san
Courtesy name
Traditional Chinese	孫載之
Simplified Chinese	孙载之
Hanyu Pinyin	Sūn Zàizhī
Jyutping	Syun1 Zoi3-zi1
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Sūn Zàizhī Bopomofo ㄙㄨㄣ ㄗㄞˋ ㄓ Wade–Giles Sun1 Tsai4-chih1 Tongyong Pinyin Sun Zài-jhih IPA [swə́n tsâɪ.ʈʂɻ̩́] Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Syūn Joi-jī Jyutping Syun1 Zoi3-zi1 IPA [syn˥ tsɔj˧ tsi˥]

Sun Yat-sen^[b] (/ˈsʊnˈjɑːtˈsɛn/;^[1] 12 November 1866 – 12 March 1925) was a Chinese physician, revolutionary, statesman, and political philosopher who founded the Republic of China (ROC) and its first political party, the Kuomintang (KMT). As the paramount leader of the 1911 Revolution, Sun is credited with overthrowing the Qing imperial dynasty and served as the first president of the Provisional Government of the Republic of China (1912) and as the inaugural leader of the Kuomintang.^[2]

Born to a peasant family in Guangdong, Sun was educated overseas in Hawaii and returned to China to graduate from medical school in Hong Kong. He led underground anti-Qing revolutionaries in South China, the United Kingdom, and Japan as one of the Four Bandits and rose to prominence as the founder of multiple resistance movements, including the Revive China Society and the Tongmenghui. He is considered one of the most important figures of modern China, and his political life campaigning against Manchu rule in favor of a Chinese republic featured constant struggles and frequent periods of exile.

After the success of the 1911 Revolution, Sun proclaimed the establishment of the Republic of China but had to relinquish the presidency to general Yuan Shikai who controlled the powerful Beiyang Army, ultimately going into exile in Japan. He later returned to launch a revolutionary government in southern China to challenge the warlords who controlled much of the country following Yuan's death in 1916. In 1923, Sun invited representatives of the Communist International to Guangzhou to reorganize the KMT and formed the First United Front with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). He did not live to see his party unify the country under his successor, Chiang Kai-shek, in the Northern Expedition. While residing in Beijing, Sun died of gallbladder cancer in 1925.

Uniquely among 20th-century Chinese leaders, Sun is revered in both Taiwan (where he is officially the "Father of the Nation") and in the People's Republic of China (where he is officially the "Forerunner of the Revolution") for his instrumental role in ending Qing rule and overseeing the conclusion of the Chinese dynastic system. His political philosophy, known as the Three Principles of the People, sought to modernise China by advocating for nationalism, democracy, and the livelihood of the people in an ethnically harmonious union (Zhonghua minzu).^[3] The philosophy is commemorated as the National Anthem of the Republic of China, which Sun composed.

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