Sun Yat-Sen, Nanyang and the 1911 Revolution

Keynote Address “Sun Yat-sen and the Origins of Modern Chinese Politics”

1 KEYNOTE ADDRESS “SUN YAT-SEN AND THE ORIGINS OF MODERN CHINESE POLITICS” Wang Gungwu Professor฀Leo฀Suryadinata฀reminded฀me฀that฀when฀I฀first฀wrote฀about฀Sun฀ Yat-sen฀in฀1952,฀it฀was฀twenty-seven฀years฀after฀his฀death฀and฀just฀over฀forty฀ years฀after฀the฀1911฀Revolution.฀Some฀of฀the฀people฀I฀spoke฀to฀at฀the฀time฀ had฀known฀Sun฀Yat-sen฀and฀they฀spoke฀of฀him฀with฀respect฀while฀admitting฀ that฀they฀did฀not฀find฀it฀easy฀to฀understand฀him.฀Was฀he฀a฀failed฀politician฀ but฀a฀great฀leader?฀Now฀he฀has฀been฀dead฀for฀eighty-five฀years฀and฀we฀are฀ commemorating฀100฀years฀of฀the฀Revolution฀that฀he฀will฀always฀be฀identified฀ with.฀We฀now฀know฀much฀more฀about฀him.฀Many฀scholars฀have฀worked฀on฀ his฀life฀and฀work฀and฀each฀has฀sought฀to฀evaluate฀his฀place฀in฀history฀and฀ especially฀his฀role฀in฀that฀Revolution.฀I฀have฀little฀to฀add฀to฀what฀has฀been฀ published.฀But฀there฀is฀something฀I฀would฀like฀to฀revisit.฀I฀once฀described฀ Sun฀Yat-sen฀as฀China’s฀first฀modern฀politician฀when฀he฀emerged฀as฀a฀leader฀ of฀a฀revolution฀at฀the฀end฀of฀the฀nineteenth฀century.฀What฀kind฀of฀politics฀ did฀he฀promote?฀In฀what฀ways฀were฀his฀politics฀modern?฀ Modernity฀is฀a฀concept฀that฀has฀been฀much฀debated฀about,฀especially฀ when฀juxtaposed฀with฀the฀word฀“tradition”.฀Most฀of฀the฀debates฀linked฀with฀ Western฀attitudes฀towards฀China฀are฀not฀relevant฀here.฀The฀word฀“modern”฀ was฀first฀used฀in฀the฀West฀to฀mark฀the฀progress฀that฀followed฀the฀struggles฀ against฀tradition฀that฀its฀peoples฀were฀engaged฀in.฀It฀was฀not฀a฀word฀applied฀ 00d฀SunYatSenKeynote.indd฀฀฀1 8/24/11฀฀฀2:11:37฀PM 2 Wang Gungwu to฀Asia.฀For฀Asian฀leaders,฀Western฀power฀was฀the฀reality,฀and฀the฀question฀ was฀how฀far฀to฀westernize฀if฀they฀were฀to฀defend฀their฀countries฀against฀ being฀dominated฀or฀worse,฀either฀conquered฀or฀colonized.฀The฀first฀decisive฀ response฀had฀come฀from฀the฀young฀Japanese฀samurai฀who฀helped฀to฀overthrow฀ Tokugawa฀Shogunate.฀They฀were฀prepared฀to฀go฀all฀out฀to฀learn฀everything฀ they฀needed฀from฀the฀West฀in฀order฀to฀fight฀back.฀Other฀Asian฀leaders฀were฀ less฀ready฀to฀westernize฀to฀that฀extent฀and฀continued฀for฀the฀rest฀of฀the฀ nineteenth฀century฀to฀reject฀any฀idea฀that฀their฀established฀ways฀needed฀to฀ be฀changed฀by฀imitating฀the฀West.฀If฀they฀thought฀about฀being฀modern฀at฀ all,฀it฀was฀in฀terms฀of฀learning฀to฀act฀like฀the฀West. The฀Japanese฀were฀the฀first฀to฀realize฀that฀the฀challenge฀they฀faced฀was฀ not฀only฀superior฀military฀power฀or฀even฀economic฀power฀but฀also฀a฀system฀ of฀ideas฀that฀was฀fundamentally฀different฀from฀their฀traditions฀of฀politics฀ and฀government.฀It฀took฀several฀decades฀before฀what฀they฀learnt฀proved฀to฀ be฀successful฀in฀catapulting฀the฀country฀to฀be฀a฀modern฀power฀alongside฀ the฀Western฀Powers.฀Sun฀Yat-sen฀was฀born฀two฀years฀before฀the฀Meiji฀ Restoration,฀in฀1866,฀and฀grew฀up฀during฀the฀first฀decades฀of฀Japan’s฀road฀ to฀that฀modernity.฀Many฀like฀him฀who฀grew฀up฀in฀the฀coastal฀areas฀of฀China฀ open฀to฀Western฀trade,฀as฀well฀as฀those฀born฀in฀European฀colonies,฀were฀ready฀ to฀understand฀how฀the฀Japanese฀saw฀the฀West฀differently.฀ For฀these฀Chinese,฀the฀key฀feature฀of฀Japan’s฀quest฀for฀power฀was฀the฀ dramatic฀and฀forceful฀way฀its฀young฀leaders฀overthrew฀the฀feudal฀Shogunate฀ and฀restored฀central฀authority฀to฀the฀Emperor.฀By฀the฀time฀Sun฀Yat-sen฀took฀ up฀the฀cause฀of฀rebellion฀in฀the฀1880s฀and฀1890s,฀many฀Chinese฀leaders฀were฀ aware฀of฀what฀Japan฀had฀achieved.฀They฀were฀impressed฀by฀the฀careful฀way฀ the฀Japanese฀studied฀European฀methods฀of฀military,฀economic฀and฀political฀ reform,฀certainly฀much฀more฀systematically฀than฀the฀Chinese฀ever฀did.฀But฀ few฀thought฀that฀the฀new฀kinds฀of฀politics฀being฀practised,฀through฀political฀ parties฀established฀in฀imitation฀of฀those฀in฀Britain฀and฀Germany,฀were฀in฀any฀ way฀responsible฀for฀Japan’s฀successes.฀The฀most฀radical฀mandarins฀were฀still฀ calibrating฀what฀they฀thought฀were฀the฀optimal฀Western฀methods฀the฀Qing฀ imperial฀system฀needed฀to฀become฀strong฀again.฀None฀who฀did฀that฀were฀ described฀at฀the฀time฀as฀a฀politician,฀least฀of฀someone฀modern. Why฀should฀Sun฀Yat-sen฀be฀considered฀a฀modern฀politician?฀Why฀not฀ Kang฀Youwei฀and฀his฀young฀followers฀who฀actually฀reached฀positions฀of฀ power฀in฀1898฀and,฀after฀the฀failure฀of฀their฀attempts฀at฀reform,฀organized฀a฀ political฀party฀called฀the฀Baohuangdang฀(保皇党,฀Protect฀Emperor฀Society)?฀ Kang฀Youwei’s฀political฀activities฀deserve฀recognition฀as...