Sun Yat-sen (/ˈsʊnˈjɑːtˈsɛn/;[1] traditional Chinese: 孫逸仙; simplified Chinese: 孙逸仙; pinyin: Sūn Yìxiān; 12 November 1866 – 12 March 1925)[2][3][4][a] was a Chinese revolutionary, statesman, and political philosopher who served as the provisional first president of the Republic of China and the first leader of the Kuomintang (KMT). Uniquely among 20th-century Chinese leaders, Sun is revered by both the Republic of China on Taiwan (where he is officially the "Father of the Nation") and by the People's Republic of China (where he is officially the "Forerunner of the Revolution") for his instrumental role in the 1911 Revolution that successfully overthrew the Qing dynasty.[5]
Educated overseas, Sun is considered one of the most important leaders of modern China, but his political life featured constant struggles and frequent periods of exile. After the success of the 1911 Revolution, Sun quickly resigned as president of the nascent Republic of China, relinquishing the position to the general Yuan Shikai and ultimately going into exile in Japan. He later returned to found a revolutionary government in Southern China to challenge the warlords who controlled much of the country following Yuan's death. In 1923, Sun invited representatives of the Communist International to Guangzhou to reorganize the KMT, resulting in the brittle 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. Now residing in Beijing, Sun died of gallbladder cancer in 1925.[6]
A vital component of Sun's legacy is his political philosophy, known as the Three Principles of the People: the peoples' independence from foreign domination, their rights, and their livelihood.[7][8][9] He also composed the lyrics to the National Anthem of the Republic of China.
Sun's genealogical name was Sun Deming (Syūn Dāk-mìhng; 孫德明).[3][10] As a child, his pet name was Tai Tseung (Dai-jeuhng; 帝象).[3] In school, the teacher gave him the name Sun Wen (Cantonese: Syūn Màhn; 孫文), which was used by Sun for most of his life. Sun's courtesy name was Zaizhi (Jai-jī; 載之), and his baptized name was Rixin (Yaht-sān; 日新).[11] While at school in Hong Kong under British rule, he got the art name Yat-sen (Chinese: 逸仙; pinyin: Yìxiān).[12] Sun Zhongshan (孫中山; Cantonese: syūn jūng sāan, romanized Chung Shan), the most popular of his Chinese names in China, is derived from his Japanese name Kikori Nakayama (中山樵 Nakayama Kikori), the pseudonym given to him by Tōten Miyazaki when he was in hiding in Japan.[3] His birthplace city was renamed Zhongshan in his honour probably shortly after his death in 1925 and uses that name. Zhongshan is one of the few cities named after people in China and has remained as the official name of the city during Communist rule.
Sun Te-ming was born on 12 November 1866 to Sun Dacheng and Madame Yang.[4] His birthplace was the village of Cuiheng, Xiangshan County (now