Zhong Shan Road. Zhong Shan Middle School. Zhong Shan? 中山? Translated: Middle Mountain? Stop the presses…you see the name Zhong Shan all over China, what the hell does it mean? Simply one man: Zhong Shan aka Sun Yat-sen.

Dr. Sun Yat-sen, aka Zhong Shan, is considered the Father of Modern China. A revolutionary, his efforts resulted in the overthrow of the Qing Dynasty in 1911. Sun was the first president of the Republic of China’s when it formed in 1912.

The 19th century was a difficult time for China. England, France, and Japan were intent on cutting up the Middle Kingdom like a pie, carving out their own enclaves, to rape the nation, and plunder its riches. The weak and corrupt Qing Dynasty had dealt with the first and second opium wars, the Boxer Rebellion, and the Taiping Rebellion. The Unequal Treaties enacted after the conflicts, giving land and rights to foreign powers, had diminished China’s power and prestige. It was a country ripe for revolution.

Sun was born in 1866 in Guangdong Province. He emigrated to America, attended school, and was granted American citizenship. In 1882 he returned to China, the ideals of Alexander Hamilton and Abraham Lincoln in his mind. He developed the Three Principle of the People (the San-min Doctrine, a government of the people, by the people, for the people.) These principles (Min-tsu, 民族主義, Min-chüan, 民權主義, Min-sheng, 民生主義) were the basis of the later Kuomintang government under Chiang Kai-shek, and of the Communist Party of China under Mao Zedong.

Sun studied medicine and practiced for a short time, The Qing Dynasty’s refusal to change with the times led Dr. Sun Yat-sen to become a full-time revolutionary. He was a principal member within the Tiandihui, a secret group dedicated to overthrowing the Qing Dynasty.

A failed coup in 1894, planned by Sun, made him an exile, resulting in him living 16  years in America, Europe and Japan. He raised money in these nations for the revolutionary cause.

After the Wuchang Uprising in 1911 (funded by Sun and his overseas work), and the overthrow of the Qing regime, Sun returned to China. He was elected the first president of the Republic of China. His tenure was short-lived, as was the Republic. Sun had united revolutionary groups, but after their initial success, the cooperation fragmented. It was not until the KMT’s Northern Expedition, under Sun’s Premiership, that a better semblance of government emerged.

Dr. Sun Yat-sen,  died in 1925 at the age of 58. He is seen as the Father of Modern China, and revered by both the Nationalists in Taiwan, and the People’s Republic on the mainland. The translation of his Japanese name, Zhong Shan, is seen everywhere in China. The town of his birth was renamed Zhong Shan in his honor. Most cities and towns in China have at least one Zhong Shan Road. Many schools, too, are named in his honor.