The Three Final Wills and Testaments of Dr. Sun Yat-sen

Despite being revered on both sides of the straits, until I visited his mausoleum in Nanjing, I wasn’t exactly sure what Dr. Sun Yat-sen…did? He’s called the “father of the Republic of China” here in Taiwan, while in the People’s Republic of China, he’s generally described as “the great forerunner of the revolution.”

My impression of him was the saintly and ghostly man on the NT$100 bill who thought a Free China was a good idea but just kind of flailed and failed until he died and the real Men of Destiny like Chiang Kai-shek and Mao Tse-tung arrived center stage. He led no armies and held no real power. The constitution he wrote for the Republic of China was kind of unique in a bad way.

Sun’s contributions was a lot more concrete after I saw all those letters he wrote and all the different parties he worked with at the museum attached to the mauseleum.

The Capybara of Revolutionaries

Sun Yat-Sen was truly the Capybara of revolutionaries, working with such strange animal friends as organized criminals, high-brow intelectuals, opportunistic Japanese militarist, idealistic western and diaspora backers. When he spoke to the Soviet Union he was a commie. When he spoke to the Americans he was a Presbytarian. Somehow he made the proto-fascist Chiang Kai-shek and the Marxist Mao Tse-tung work together. And he passed away before any of those relationships soured.

Sun Yat-sen's true genius was, no matter who he was talking to he somehow tailored the Chinese Nationalist cause to align with theirs, and makes supporting China not just the righteous move, but the smart one. And there was a plain-spoken urgency to his writing that somehow manages to be completely authentic.

This quality is captured in the three wills he made as he lay dying in Beijing from liver cancer. I translated the first two, and the third is in the original typed English.

To his family: A simple note

His wife Soong Ching-ling, like her sister Soong Mei-ling (who married Chiang Kai-shek) will continue to play an essential role in China’s nation building.

Because I've given my all to the state, I have neglected my family's affairs. All my books, clothing, house etc I leave to my wife Soong Ching-ling as a memento. My sons and daughters are grown. I hope they take good care of themselves and inherit my aspirations. This is my instruction.

余因盡瘁國事，不治家產，所遺之書籍、衣服、住宅等，一切均付吾妻宋慶齡，以為紀念。余之兒女已長成，能自立，望各自愛，以繼余志。此囑！

To his nation: A rousing exhortation

The phrase “The revolution has not yet succeeded; Comrades must continue the struggle” was taken from this will and has become iconic.

For 40 years I've toiled for the people's revolution with the aim of securing a free and fair China. In the course of my experience, I realized we must rouse the masses and unite with the nationsof the world which treat us as equals and struggle together.

The revolution has not yet succeeded. All my comrades must continue the struggle in accordance with [his books] and carry it through to completion.

The National Congress must be convened and the Unequal Treaties must abolished as soon as possible. This I ask of you!"

余致力國民革命，凡四十年，其目的在求中國之自由平等。積四十年之經驗，深知欲達到此目的，必須喚起民眾及聯合世界上以平等待我之民族，共同奮鬥。 現在革命尚未成功，凡我同志，務須依照余所著《建國方略》、《建國大綱》、《三民主義》及《第一次全國代表大會宣言》，繼續努力，以求貫徹。最近主張開國民會議及廢除不平等條約，尤須於最短期間，促其實現。是所至囑！

To the Soviets: A call for continued support

It’s unclear how sincere Sun was as an ideological fellow travelers with the Soviet Union and how much he simply saw them as a generous donor and supporter. But his

To the Central Executive Committee of
the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics:

My dear comrades,

As I lie here, with a malady that is beyond men's skill, my thoughts turn to you and to the future of my party and my country.

You are the head of a union of free republics which is the real heritage that the immortal Lenin has left to the world of the oppressed peoples. Through this heritage, the victims of imperialism are destined to secure their freedom and deliverance from an international system whose foundations lie in ancient slaveries and wars and injustices.

I am leaving behind me a party which I had hoped would be associated with you in the historic work of completely liberating China and other exploited countries from this imperialist system. Fate decrees that I must leave the task unfinished and pass it on to those who, by remaining true to the principles and teachings of the Party, will constitute my real followers.

I have therefore enjoined the Kuomintang to carry on the work of the national revolutionary movement in order that China may be freed from the semi-colonial status which imperialism imposed upon her. To this end I have charged the party to keep in constant touch with you; and I look with confidence to the continuance of the support that your government has heretofore extended to my party.

In bidding farewell to you, dear comrades, I wish to express the fervent hope that the day may soon dawn when the U. S. S. R. will greet, as a friend and ally, a strong and independent China and that the two allies may together advance to victory in the great struggle for the liberation of the oppressed peoples of the world.

With fraternal greetings.

(signed) Sun Yat-sen

His Final Resting Place

Luckily it wasn’t a hot day in Nanjing when I visited, but the Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum was still a long way up.

It’s oddly moving to see the 青天白日滿地紅 KMT motif on the ceiling of his place of rest. They often said of Mao he would have been thought of as a greater man if he had died earlier. Well Sun did die early and perhaps in this way his greatness was guaranteed.

Who is the real Sun Yat-sen?

Those who dismiss Sun as just a blowhard who never actually got the job done doesn’t seem to realize the incredible task he had in front of him of ridding China of not just the dying Qing dynasty but the feudal mindset that persisted for thousands of years.

Sun grew up a farm boy in Guangdong inspired by old boxers who talked of revolution. He was already making trouble condemning the practice of footbinding and exploitative labor before getting shipped off to Hawaii where his elder brother was a prosperous farmer to be domesticated. He attended Iolani School (which Barack Obama also went to, much, much later) and then eventually became baptized as a Christian and cursing out the local Chinese community for worshipping the old gods. His brother shipped him back home, horrified, and the rest was history.

The English he learned served him well as his four decades of revolution included many in exile. And it can be argued that his prodigious ability to raise funds for the cause was as consequential as his leadership for the revolution. His Christianity too was a helpful bridge to build affinity to western backers, although he wasn’t so devout as to let it get in the way of his incorrigible womanizing.

I think what I'm trying to say is Sun Yat-sen was a great man because he discovered the greatness within himself to hold a vision as big as a modern China AND align with all those very different groups WITHOUT being inauthentic. Some times you can be great not through the big things you did, but the big ideas you held.

And sometimes, the more you learn about him, the more the core who he is kind of elude you. As he was a friend to all in life, he remains a myth to all in death.

I’m back in Taipei home sweet home, but it’s been an enriching and thought-provoking trip to China. Look out for periodic pieces of material I saved up from my trip upcoming on Taipology!