Skip to main content
Universal Encyclopedia

Who was Sun Yat-sen?

Sun Yat-sen (1866–1925) — Sun Zhongshan — was the revolutionary who ended two millennia of imperial rule in China: founder of the Tongmenghui revolutionary alliance, architect of the 1911 Xinhai Revolution that toppled the Qing dynasty, and first provisional president of the Republic of China in 1912.

Last updated: October 2026

The short answer

His Three Principles of the People — nationalism, democracy, livelihood — remain the official ideology of Taiwan and are ritually honored in Beijing. He is the only 20th-century Chinese leader revered on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.

The full file

Encyclopedia

Read the full file

Sun Yat-sen (1866–1925) — Sun Zhongshan — was the revolutionary who ended two millennia of imperial rule in China: founder of the Tongmenghui revolutionary alli…

Related questions

More from the Bureau

All questionsFactbookRankings

Across the Bureau

The first storytellers: Aboriginal Australia — HistoryAda Lovelace: the first programmerAdolf Hitler: rise, war and the HolocaustAfghanistan — Country ProfileAlbania — Country ProfileAlgeria — Country ProfileHistory of Afghanistan — TimelineHistory of Albania — Timeline