The Encyclopedia Americana (1920)/Sun-Yat-Sen

SUN-YAT-SEN, Chinese revolutionary leader: b. Fatshan, near Canton, 1866. He was graduated (1892) at Hongkong School of Medicine, and started practice at Macao when he became one of the plotters resolved on forcing the Manchu dynasty from power. He fled from Canton after the first failure at revolt and went to Japan, thence to San Francisco. He formed the revolutionary association Kao Lao Hwei and carried on his propaganda all over the world, making the United States his headquarters and domicile. Dr. Sun's life was jeopardized by the standing reward of $50,000 for his assassination, but the revolution of 1911 in China succeeded, thanks largely to his indefatigable energy and resourcefulness in propagating the work in every country. He was rewarded by being made Provisional President of the new Chinese Republic but resigned in 1912 in favor of Yuan Shih-kai in order to bring the great Northern influence of the latter into the cause. Sun's later opposition to Yuan Shih-kai in the Peking Parliament caused his expulsion and he had to flee to Japan. Consult Cantlie and Jones, ‘Sun-Yat-Sen and the Awakening of China’ (3d ed., New York 1913).