Like so many other leaders of his generation–Liang Qichao, Chen Duxiu, Chiang Kai-shek–Sun fled arrest in China for sixteen years of exile in Japan. Sun severed his Qing queue, donned Western dress, and began studying Japan’s successful response to the West. During these sixteen years, Sun traveled broadly raising funds and awareness for his revolutionary… Read more »
Sun’s revolutionary zeal was ahead of his time. While reformers like Feng Guifen and Li Hongzhang were still arguing that China could be fixed from within, Sun argued for the overthrow of the Qing from very early in his career. His attitude may have been cemented when a letter he sent to Li Hongzhang in… Read more »
Sun did not remain a doctor for long. In 1894 he left Macau and China behind, returning to Hawaii to found his first revolutionary organization, the Revive China Society. His revolutionary activities led him to be banished from his homeland. The flag adopted by the society remains part of the Taiwanese flag today.