Sun Yat-sen

Sun Yat-sen (, , 12 November 1866 – 12 March 1925), better known in China as Sun ZhongshanSun's most common names in English and Chinese respectively are listed, but his common English name was originally derived from one of his less common Chinese names.}} (), was a Chinese revolutionary, statesman, and political philosopher who served as the first provisional president of the Republic of China and the first leader of the Kuomintang. He is called the "Father of the Nation" in the present-day Republic of China (Taiwan) and the "Forerunner of the Revolution" in the People's Republic of China for his instrumental role in the overthrowing of the Qing dynasty during the 1911 Revolution. Sun is unique among 20th-century Chinese leaders for being widely revered by both the Communist Party in mainland China and the Kuomintang in Taiwan.

Educated overseas, Sun is considered to be one of the greatest and most important leaders of modern China, but his political life was one of constant struggle and frequent exile. After the success of the revolution in 1911, he quickly resigned as president of the newly founded Republic of China and relinquished the position to Yuan Shikai. He soon went to exile in Japan for safety but returned to form and found a revolutionary government in Southern China, as a challenge to the warlords who controlled much of the nation. In 1923, he invited representatives of the Communist International to Canton (Guangzhou) to reorganize his party and formed a brittle alliance with the Chinese Communist Party. He did not live to see his party unify the country under his successor, Chiang Kai-shek, in the Northern Expedition. He died in Beijing of gallbladder cancer in 1925.

Sun's chief legacy is his political philosophy known as the Three Principles of the People: Mínzú () or nationalism (independence from foreign domination), Mínquán () or "rights of the people" (also translated as "democracy"), and Mínshēng () or people's livelihood (sometimes translated as "communitarianism" or "welfarism"). Provided by Wikipedia