Dr. Sun Yatsen

          I knew that Dr. Sun was an important historical figure in China, but was not prepared for the prodigious memorial built to honor him, indicative of the supreme reverence with which he is regarded by all the people of China, both on the mainland and in Taiwan.  He was a revolutionary who worked tirelessly to undermine the last ruling imperial dynasty in China around the turn of the twentieth century.  Sun was an interesting figure who converted to Christianity, become a medical doctor and greatly admired Alexander Hamilton and Abraham Lincoln.  In 1911, the Qing Dynasty abruptly ended and the Republic of China was born.  Sun Yatsen became the first president and established the Kuomintang or Nationalist Party.

The Kuomintang Party

          The Republic of China only lasted 40 years on the mainland and the history of China during the period that followed is complicated.  Chiang Kaishek assumed command of the Kuomintang Party in 1928 and spent his remaining years competing with a radical librarian from Peking University named Mao Zedong for control of China.  Mao eventually prevailed and Chiang Kaishek retreated with the remnants of the Republic of China to the island of Taiwan in 1949 to form Nationalist China.  Dr. Sun Yatsen died of liver cancer in 1925 at the age of 58, but because of his leading role in the efforts to topple the last ruling dynasty he is considered the father of modern China.  Despite the continued conflict between the People’s Republic of China (mainland China) and the Republic of China (Taiwan), Dr. Sun is held in extremely high regard by the Chinese people of both nations.  Thus the lavish mausoleum where he is entombed.