Sun Yat-Sen, Nanyang and the 1911 Revolution

11. Historical Linkage and Political Connection: Commemoration and Representation of Sun Yat-sen and the 1911 Revolution in China and Southeast Asia, 1946-2010

245 11 HISTORICAL LINKAGE AND POLITICAL CONNECTION: COMMEMORATION AND REPRESENTATION OF SUN YAT-SEN AND THE 1911 REVOLUTION IN CHINA AND SOUTHEAST ASIA, 1946–20101 Wu Xiao An Introduction Over฀centuries,฀China-Southeast฀Asian฀interactions฀have฀been฀best฀manifested฀ through฀the฀tributary฀system฀from฀above฀and฀the฀Overseas฀Chinese฀or฀ ฀ Chinese฀Overseas฀from฀below.฀However,฀over฀decades฀after฀World฀War฀II,฀ the฀linkages฀of฀the฀two฀were฀overshadowed฀by฀the฀imagined฀China฀threat฀on฀ the฀one฀hand฀and฀suspicions฀of฀the฀loyalty฀of฀Overseas฀Chinese฀on฀the฀other฀ because฀of฀the฀Cold฀War฀and฀nation-building฀processes.฀Only฀with฀the฀end฀of฀ Cold฀War฀and฀the฀rapid฀rise฀of฀China,฀China฀and฀Southeast฀Asia฀have฀started฀ to฀be฀reconnected฀with฀each฀other฀substantially฀and฀at฀an฀unprecedented฀ rate.฀From฀the฀dusty฀past,฀the฀long-neglected฀prominent฀figures฀like฀Admiral฀ Zheng฀He฀and฀Dr฀Sun฀Yat-sen฀have฀eventually฀been฀rediscovered฀for฀that฀ 11฀SunYatSen.indd฀฀฀245 8/24/11฀฀฀3:02:48฀PM 246 Wu Xiao An purpose.฀Zheng฀He’s฀case฀serves฀perfectly฀to฀refute฀the฀China฀threat,฀while฀ Sun฀Yat-sen’s฀legacy฀proudly฀exhibits฀how฀Nanyang฀and฀Nanyang฀Chinese฀ contribute฀to฀the฀making฀of฀a฀modern฀China.฀In฀Southeast฀Asia,฀neglected฀ memorial฀halls฀and฀temples฀are฀hence฀renovated฀and฀rebuilt฀on฀the฀dusty฀and฀ even฀damaged฀sites฀with฀government฀funding฀and฀private฀donations.฀Likewise,฀ there฀have฀been฀symposiums,฀films฀and฀exhibitions฀on฀these฀subjects.฀Such฀ development฀is฀an฀amazing฀contrast฀with฀the฀socio-political฀landscape฀just฀ a฀few฀decades฀ago.฀ How฀and฀why฀were฀Sun฀Yat-sen฀and฀the฀1911฀Revolution฀represented฀in฀ China฀and฀Southeast฀Asia฀under฀changing฀situations?฀How฀and฀why฀were฀they฀ imagined฀and฀commemorated฀differently฀in฀different฀periods?฀Based฀on฀the฀ reports฀in฀the฀People’s฀Daily฀from฀1946฀to฀2010฀in฀China,฀the฀chapter,฀while฀ not฀studying฀Sun฀Yat-sen฀and฀the฀1911฀Revolution฀per฀se,฀tries฀to฀construct฀ and฀reconstruct฀their฀commemoration฀and฀representation฀in฀China฀and฀ Southeast฀Asia฀and฀their฀dynamics. Sun Yat-sen and Nanyang Sun฀Yat-sen’s฀revolutionary฀activities฀and฀legacy฀in฀Nanyang฀should฀at฀ least฀include฀three฀aspects:฀(1)฀directly,฀his฀own฀physical฀involvements;฀ ฀ (2)฀indirectly,฀his฀fellow฀compradors’฀activities฀under฀his฀leadership;฀and฀ ฀ (3)฀the฀activities฀after฀the฀1911฀Revolution.฀As฀Duara฀argues,฀it฀was฀only฀after฀ the฀1911฀Revolution฀that฀Sun฀Yat-sen’s฀legacy฀and฀influences฀in฀Nanyang฀ had฀started฀to฀be฀dominant฀spiritually฀and฀consolidated฀institutionally฀by฀ bypassing฀the฀forces฀of฀pro-Qing฀bao฀huang฀hui฀保皇会฀[Association฀for฀the฀ Protection฀of฀the฀Emperor].2 ฀Likewise,฀interestingly฀in฀the฀case฀of฀China,฀it฀ was฀only฀following฀the฀death฀of฀Sun฀Yat-sen฀in฀1925฀that฀he฀was฀mystically฀ worshipped฀in฀modern฀Chinese฀politics฀and฀society฀when฀he฀was฀constructed฀ as฀a฀national฀icon฀by฀the฀KMT฀regime.฀Because฀of฀time฀constraint,฀this฀ chapter฀would฀focus฀on฀his฀physical฀presence฀in฀Nanyang.฀In฀terms฀of฀ financial฀and฀human฀resources,฀there฀is฀no฀doubt฀that฀Nanyang฀Chinese฀ contributed฀greatly฀to฀the฀1911฀Revolution.฀However,฀it฀is฀the฀United฀States,฀ Japan,฀Hong฀Kong,฀and฀even฀Europe,฀rather฀than฀Nanyang,฀that฀Sun฀Yat-sen฀ had฀physically฀stayed฀longer฀and฀benefited฀most฀spiritually.฀It฀was฀not฀until฀ the฀middle฀of฀the฀year฀1900฀that฀Nanyang฀started฀to฀become฀Sun฀Yat-sen’s฀ main฀revolutionary฀bases.฀The฀reason฀that฀Sun฀Yat-sen฀was฀forced฀to฀turn฀to฀ Nanyang฀as฀his฀main฀revolutionary฀bases฀instead฀was฀due฀to฀the฀deportation฀ of฀Sun฀by฀the฀Japanese฀Government฀and฀the฀geographical฀proximity฀of฀ Nanyang฀to฀South฀China,฀notably,฀Yunnan,฀Guangxi฀and฀Guangdong.฀ 11฀SunYatSen.indd฀฀฀246 8/24/11฀฀฀3:02:48฀PM Sun Yat-sen and the 1911 Revolution in China and Southeast Asia 247 For฀Sun฀Yat-sen,฀Nanyang฀had฀two฀significant฀dimensions฀or฀sources฀ for฀his฀revolutionary฀mobilization:฀one฀was฀Nanyang฀Chinese฀contributions฀ to฀fund-raising฀and฀organizational฀support฀underpinned฀by฀the฀common฀ ethnic฀identity฀and฀Chinese฀nationalism฀in฀terms฀of฀the฀anti-Manchu฀and฀ anti-imperialist฀cause;฀the฀other฀was฀local฀non-Southeast฀Asian฀Chinese฀ nationalists,฀who฀was฀inspired฀and฀united฀by฀Asianism฀in฀the฀late฀nineteenth฀ and฀early฀twentieth฀centuries฀due฀to฀the฀common฀Asian฀anti-colonisalism฀ and฀Asian฀nationalist฀awakening.3 ฀For฀the฀former,฀Vietnam,฀Singapore฀and฀ Malaysia฀were฀the฀three฀main฀targets,฀and฀Saigon,฀Hanoi,฀Singapore฀and฀ Penang฀were฀headquarters฀for฀Sun’s฀Nanyang฀revolutionary฀organizational฀ activities.฀For฀the฀latter,฀Southeast฀Asian฀nationalists,฀Phan฀Boi฀Chau฀in฀ Vietnam,฀Ponce฀in...