Introduction
Introduction
After the fall of Dynastic Rule and the Qing Emperor, due to the 1911 Chinese Revolution, China became a republic.
Republic: State in which power is held by the people through their elected representatives, and which has an elected or nominated president. The United States is an example of a republic.
Think about it: How is a republic like a democracy (rule by the people)? How is it different?
Review: Sun Yat Sen's Three Principles of the People
You read about the first president of the Chinese Republic, Sun Yat Sen's philosophy. The Three Principles of the People were nationalism (pride in one's country), democracy (rule by the people), and livelihood of the people (economic independence).
However, he believed that too much freedom was hurting China. He thought that Western (American and European) ideas about the importance of liberty were not the right idea for democracy in China.
Think about it: How could liberty be harmful to a society? How could a lack of liberty be harmful to a society? Think about "Those Who Come from Omelas," "Harrison Bergeron," and "Red Scarf Girl." Which societies value liberty? Which see liberty as a threat?
The Republic of China was in a shambles in 1924. The national government in Beijing was a virtually powerless prize over which warlords fought; it had no real authority over the country, which was administered (more or less) in a patchwork fashion by hundreds of independent warlords.
Think about it: Is this scenario one we have seen before in Chinese history? When?
Sun Yat-Sen (1866-1925), the intellectual “father” of the Republic of China, was a revolutionary involved in the overthrow of the Qing Dynasty. He was influenced by the 1917 Communist Revolution in Russia which established the Soviet Union.
Think about it: Which society was more like a communist society, "Omelas" or the United States in 2081 as described in "Harrison Bergeron?" Why? Was either society free? Why or why not?
Sun Yat-Sen died of liver cancer in 1925. Mao Zedong emerged as the new leader of the Communist movement. However, the Nationalist leader Chiang Kai Shek became the new leader of China. Because of China's instability, it remained in a state of civil war. Mao Zedong and fellow Communists and the Nationalist government of Chiang Kai Shek became the main adversaries (enemies).