Three Principles of the People

History

Origins

In 1894, Sun Yat-sen founded the radically anti-Qing Revive China Society. After the failure of its 1895 uprising, Sun entered a years-long exile, part of which he spent in England. Apart from a brief and well-publicized detention in the Chinese Legation, the time was a period of profound intellectual study and formation, to which he later dated the conception of his nascent Principles.

After another uprising in 1900, Sun was forced to compete for diaspora support with the reformist leaders Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao, thus spending much of 1903-1905 visiting to overseas Chinese communities across the world, including San Francisco in 1904. The Revive China Society member Liu Cheng-yu would later claim in his memoirs that, while both in San Francisco, he and Sun had a conversation which inspired the latter to incorporate the principle of people's livelihood into his nascent platform. Around the same time, his rhetoric also evolved to reflect the more radical anti-Manchuism of the newly forming radical student movements, whom he courted throughout the period. In a European visit in 1905, Sun made significant progress in winning them to his side: additionally, in a speech in Brussels, Sun set forth for the first time the ideas behind his Principles.

In October 1905, Sun, Huang Xing, Song Jiaoren, and other radical figures formed the Tongmenghui in Tokyo. In the party's manifesto, and in an article written by Sun for the first edition of the party paper (Minbao), the Three Principles of the People ( whose party manifesto set forth the Three Principles of the People as a feature of its program. In the first edition of the party newspaper Minbao, Sun wrote an article explaining what those Principles meant: subsequently, younger collaborators, like Hu Hanmin, Wang Jingwei, Feng Ziyou, fleshed out the Principles into an ideology. In December 1906, the Hong Kong newspaper Republic Daily carried an advertisement for Minbao. Later, Feng Ziyou claimed that, while editing a Hong Kong Tongmenghui paper, he ran an advertisement for Minbao, in which he shortened the phrase "promoting nationalism, democracy, and people's welfare" (提倡民族主義民權主義民生主義) to the term “Three Principles of the People” (三民主義).

In Minbao

From 1905 to 1907, Sun Yat-sen and (to a much greater degree) collaborators like Wang Jingwei, Hu Hanmin, and Song Jiaoren wrote a number of articles in Minbao on the Three Principles, in order to provide definition to them as an ideology and assist in the struggle against the Tongmenghui's reformist foes, including Liang Qichao.

Among the themes of the articles was anti-Manchuism, which featured in the rhetoric of Minbao as the basis of Chinese nationalism. Wang Jingwei, for instance, argued in his article A Nation of Citizens that China's Han majority was destined to assimilate with the Manchu due to the latter's stark racial incompatibility. Constitutionalism, therefore, was merely a ploy to strengthen Manchu power over Han provincial officials: the Manchus could no more address the revolutionaries' concerns than "that the horse will sprout horns".

The Minbao polemicists also assailed Liang Qichao on the matter of democracy. Liang believed that China's national interests demanded the unity of its population under the existing dynasty, which should be transformed into an enlightened autocracy (開明專制, kaiming zhuanzhi). He argued that China was unready for a republic, and that in any case founding a republic meant revolution, and therefore chaos. In response, Sun and his allies argued that republicanism was the most modern, and thus best, form of government in existence. Moreover, republican ideals, he claimed, were rooted in Chinese culture.

As for people's livelihood, Liang claimed that social revolution was both unnecessary and potentially harmful: what China really needed was a program of capitalist industrial benefit. In response, Zhu Zhixin claimed that the Tongmenghui's form of socialism did not demand the expropriation of private property or the dictatorship of the proletariat: what the Tongmenghui wanted was a "state socialism" whose main target consisted only of monopolies. In another article, Feng Ziyou claimed that social revolution was necessary if China wanted to avoid the massive inequality and exploitation reigning in the West.

Sun's 1924 lectures

Although Sun intended to complement his other major works with text on the Principles, Chen Jiongming's 1922 attack, which destroyed his notes, prevented its completion. The text published under the title Three Principles of the People, which marks Sun's last major work before his death of liver cancer, consists of 16 lectures on the subject, which under his direction were transcribed and revised by Huang Changgu and Zou Lu. The lectures were given weekly between January and August 1921 to Kuomintang cadres while the party held its 1st National Congress. It consists of six lectures each on nationalism and democracy, and four on livelihood: two more lectures (specifically, on shelter and transportation) were intended to round out the set for a total of 18, but these were never given.

The text was Sun Yat-sen's last major work: on January 1, 1925, while in Beijing, Sun Yat-sen was diagnosed with terminal liver cancer, of which he perished on March 12. On his deathbed, Sun signed a political testament drafted by Wang Jingwei, in which he urged members of his Kuomintang to hold fast to The Three Principles of the People and his other major writings. After the Kuomintang's victory in the Northern Expedition, the text was granted canonical status as the definitive exposition of his thought. After the Nationalist government's retreat to Taiwan, Chiang Kai-shek completed Sun's discussion of livelihood with supplementary texts on education and leisure. An English translation was produced by Frank Price in 1927.

The Principles

Nationalism (Mínzúzhǔyì)

Because "Mínzú" or "People" describes a nation rather than a group of persons united by a purpose, the 'Principle of Mínzú' (Chinese: 民族主義; pinyin: Mínzú Zhǔyì) is commonly rendered as "nationalism".

According to Sun, "[W]e are the poorest and weakest state in the world, occupying the lowest position in international affairs; the rest of mankind is the carving knife and serving dish, while we are the fish and meat. Our position is now extremely perilous; if we do not earnestly promote nationalism and weld together our four hundred million into a strong nation, we face a tragedy -- the loss of our country and the destruction of our nation/people."

In the late 19th century, the scholar-officians Huang Zunxian and Yan Fu popularized Western conceptions of evolution and racial identity, including social Darwinism and racial essentialism, racial struggle, and the yellow race. Yan's ideas had a strong influence on Liang Qichao, who, like Sun Yat-sen, feared the extermination of the "yellow" race at the hands of the "whites". Liang distinguished between the concept of minzu (Ch: 民族), a generally ethnic term, and guomin, which he deemed equivalent to the German concept of Volk, and of which the former was only a preliminary. He believed that individual minzu were eventually destined to form a single guomin or guozu, a final product of racial evolution which would compete on a grand scale.

In his 1924 lectures on nationalism, Sun claimed that the formation of nations was a consequence of five "natural forces": namely, "blood kinship, common language, common livelihood, common religion, common customs." With regard to common blood, Sun asserted the existence of five "main" biological races—viz. white, black, red, brown, and yellow—of hereditary character. The other forces drove both the genesis and dissolution of individual "sub-races"---for instance, a shared language could lead different races to assimilate into one.

He distinguished between nation (Ch: 民族, minzu) and state (Ch: 國家, guojia): the former arose from the natural processes elaborated above, while the latter was born of military force.

In Sun's mind, demographics played a large role in the continued existence of nations. Influenced by social Darwinism, Sun saw reproduction as a key factor in passing on national identity, and thus the struggle of evolution. Because China's population growth rate had fallen below that of the West, China was in danger of extinctions at the hands of European nations.

Democracy (Mínquánzhǔyì)

The framing of 'democracy' (Chinese: 民權主義; pinyin: Mínquán Zhǔyì; lit. 'Principle of people's right') in the Three Principles of the People differs from the typical Western view of democracy, being based in Liang's interpretation of General will, which prioritizes the power of the group over individual freedoms. Sun viewed traditional Chinese society as too individualistic and stated that individual liberty must be broken down so that the Chinese people could pressed together, using the metaphor of adding cement to sand.

Instead of dividing power between three branches, Sun Yat-sen proposed dividing it between five. His framework incorporated the traditional legislative, executive, and judicial branches, but added separate branches dedicated to oversight and administering civil service exams, which were derived from the traditional censorate and the keju respectively.

He believed that Western legislatures were overly strong, in part due to their control of oversight. In America, he claimed, this resulted in legislative tyranny: only remarkably capable presidents, like Lincoln, were able to preserve executive independence in the face of congressional oversight actions.

According to Sun, "[w]hen the four political powers of the people control the five governing powers of the

government, then we will have a completely democratic government organ, and the strength of the people and of the government will be well balanced."

In his lectures on democracy, Sun advocated for a distinction between the sovereignty (Ch: 權，quan) of the people and the ability (Ch: 能，neng) of the government. Government was to be entrusted to experts, who would have the freedom to do as they saw fit, despite their dependence on the people. In his fifth lecture on democracy, he drew an analogy between such a conception of government and the role of a chauffeur:

If I had not given the chauffeur complete authority...but had insisted that he take my route, I certainly could not have kept my engagement. Because I trusted him as an expert and did not bind his arm, he was able to take that route which he thought was best, and

People's livelihood / Social Welfare (Mínshēngzhǔyì)

The Principle of Mínshēng (Chinese: 民生主義; pinyin: Mínshēng Zhǔyì; lit. 'Principle of people's welfare/livelihood') is sometimes translated as "[Principle of] Government for the People" or "Socialism". The concept may be understood as social welfare and as a direct criticism of the inadequacies of unregulated capitalism. He divided livelihood into four areas: clothing, food, housing, and mobility, and planned out how an ideal (Chinese) government can take care of these for its people.

As early as the early 1900s, Sun and his revolutionaries, like rival Liang Qichao, were deeply interested in building a powerful, modern China. In The International Development of China, Sun laid out an ambitious scheme for accomplishing this. His plan called for Western powers to set aside 25% of their military budgets to finance infrastructure projects in China, including the damming of the Yangtze. This was to involve the assistance of outside experts, as well as the establishment of state enterprises (though without excluding private industry).

In the 1924 lectures, Sun reiterated his vision of state-led modernization. Private capital was to be limited, but not abolished: moreover, it was to coexist with state-run public enterprises. Sun claimed that, by developing the "three great industries" of "communications, mining, and manufacturing" as domains of the public sector, the average Chinese would be able to share in immense national income gains.

One of the planks of the Tongmenghui's manifesto was a plan for land equalization, which Sun had previously discussed in 1902 and 1903. The objective of this plan was to curb speculation, in line with the then-influential thought of Henry George.

As he explained in speeches between 1906 and 1912, Sun's plan, in contrast with George's own proposals, relied on self-assessment. Landowners would get to report the value of their own holdings to the government, which would collect a one-percent land value, but the government could buy back land at its declared value for the sake of financial needs (e.g. public infrastructure projects).

In 1924, Sun claimed that his buyback mechanism would encourage accurate land assessments:

Interpretations after Sun's death

Kuomintang

After Sun's death, Whampoa Military Academy commandant Chiang Kai-shek steadily increased his role and influence within the party, eventually rising to become its most important figure. From May 1926 to June 1928, he commanded the party's Northern Expedition, which resulted in the successful unification of much of the country, the formation of the National Government, and the purge of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from the party.

From 1928 to 1949, the Kuomintang ruled as the government of mainland China. Under the 1928 Organic Law, the government was reorganized according to Sun's principles of political tutelage, with party organs in supreme command over every aspect of the government. Organizationally, it consisted of the five branches Sun described in his Principles and his Fundamentals of National Reconstruction: viz. the Executive Yuan, Legislative Yuan, Judicial Yuan, Control Yuan, and Examination Yuan.

Under KMT rule, the Principles were elevated to the status of a political dogma. Influenced by the conservative interpretations of Dai Jitao, the party read the Principles in continuity with Confucian virtues, which were also stressed as part of Chiang's New Life Movement.

The Principles were also incorporated into a matrix of official rituals and symbols. Every Monday, members of public institutions gathered to bow to Sun's portrait and listen to readings of his Testament. The Principles were also inscribed on Sun's tomb, whose location was connected according to legend with the Mandate of Heaven. Sun's Whampoa address, whose opening line invokes the Principles, was selected as the KMT's party anthem in 1930, and as the national anthem in 1937

Chinese Communist Party

After years of civil war and increasing Japanese aggression, Mao's CCP reached an agreement with the KMT to begin cooperation on the basis of Sun's Principles, which became known as the Second United Front. However, in the essay On New Democracy (1940), Mao claimed that the Principles should be understood in light of the "New Three Principles of the People", which were embodied in the "Three Great Policies" of Sun's "Three Great Policies" of "alliance with Russia, co-operation with the Communist Party and assistance to the peasants and workers".

In an interview with Reuters reporters, Mao said: "A free and democratic China will be a country in which all levels of government up to the central government are elected by universal, equal, secret suffrage and are accountable to the people who elected them. It would realize Dr. Sun Yat-sen's Three Principles of the People, Lincoln's principles of government of the people, by the people, and for the people, and Roosevelt's Four Freedoms. It will guarantee the country's independence, unity, unification, and cooperation with the democratic powers."

After the PRC's rise to power, Sun continued to receive honor, but less of it, and less so for the Principles than for the Three Great Policies. However, after the rise of Deng Xiaoping, Sun was hailed for his plans of economic development, which were connected to Deng's Four Modernizations.

Legacy in other countries

Vietnam

The Vietnam Revolutionary League was a union of various Vietnamese nationalist groups, run by the pro-Chinese Việt Nam Quốc Dân Đảng. The name "Quốc Dân Đảng" is the Vietnamese rendering of "Kuomintang". Its goal was Vietnamese independence, drawing inspiration from the Three Principles of the People and opposing both Japanese and French imperialism. The Revolutionary League was led by Nguyễn Hải Thần, who was born in Northern Vietnam. General Zhang Fakui once blocked the Communists of Vietnam, and Ho Chi Minh from entering the league. The KMT utilized these Vietnamese nationalists during World War II against Japanese forces.

The motto of Independence - Freedom - Happiness of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, despite its communist political background, was also taken from the Three Principles of the People.

Tibet

The pro-Kuomintang and pro-ROC Khamba revolutionary leader Pandatsang Rapga, who established the Tibet Improvement Party, adopted Dr. Sun's ideology, including the Three Principles, incorporating them into his party and using Sun's doctrine as a model for his vision of Tibet after achieving his goal of overthrowing the Tibetan government.

Pandatsang Rapga hailed the Three Principles for helping Asian peoples against foreign imperialism and called for the feudal system to be overthrown. Rapga stated that "The Sanmin Zhuyi was intended for all peoples under the domination of foreigners, for all those who had been deprived of the rights of man. But it was conceived especially for the Asians. It is for this reason that I translated it. At that time, a lot of new ideas were spreading in Tibet", during an interview in 1975 with Heather Stoddard. Sun's ideology was put into a Tibetan translation by Rapga.He believed that change in Tibet would be possible only as in the Qing dynasty's overthrow in China. He borrowed the Kuomintang's theories and ideas as the basis for his model for Tibet. The Kuomintang and the Pandatsang family funded the party.

Singapore

The establishment of the People's Power Party in May 2015 by opposition politician Goh Meng Seng marks the first time in contemporary Singaporean politics that a political party was formed with the Three Principles of the People and its system of having five branches of government as espoused by Sun Yat-sen as its official guiding ideology.

The People's Power Party has adapted the ideas of the Five Powers with slight modifications to remain relevant to contemporary political and social structures. The emphasis is put on the separation of the Five Powers, which naturally means the separation of certain institutions from the Executive's control.

The power of impeachment (originally vested in the Control Yuan) has been expanded to encompass various contemporary functional government institutions. Examples include the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau, advocacy of the Ombudsman Commission, Equal Opportunity Commission, freedom of the press, and freedom of speech.

The power of examination has been adapted and modified to fit the modern concept of selection for both political leaders and civil servants. This involves institutions such as the Elections Department and the Public Service Commission.

The People's Power Party advocates that the institutions included in these two powers, namely the power of impeachment and the power of selection, be put under the supervision of Singapore's elected president.