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May 3, 2020 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

The Chinese Revolution Started with a Hawaiʻi Hui

The first unified Chinese imperial state was established by Qin Shi Huang of the Qin state in 221 BC (it had been made up of provisional states/dynasties before that.) Over the succeeding centuries, China was under dynastic rule; to name only a few: Han, Sui, Tang, Song, Yuan (Mongol) and Ming.

It was rare for one dynasty to change peacefully into the next, since dynasties were often established before the overthrow of an existing regime, or continued for a time after they had been defeated.

The Qing Dynasty, also Empire of the Great Qing or Great Qing (including the Manchus,) was the last imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917.

It was replaced by the Nationalist Government of the Republic of China who became the ruling governmental authority of China between 1927 to 1948. It was led by the Kuomintang (also known as the Chinese Nationalist Party, KMT), until the Government of the Republic of China under the newly promulgated Constitution of the Republic of China was established in its place.

After the outbreak of the Xinhai Revolution on October 10, 1911, revolutionary leader Sun Yat-sen (November 12, 1866 –March 12, 1925) was elected Provisional President and founded the Provisional Government of the Republic of China.

Sun Yat-sen is the Founding Father of modern China, the Republic of China (Nationalist China) and the forerunner of democratic revolution in the People’s Republic of China.

As part of a philosophy to make China a free, prosperous and powerful nation Sun Yat-sen adopted “Three Principles of the People:” “Mínzú, Mínquán, Mínshēng“ (People’s Nationalism, People’s Democracy, People’s Livelihood.)

But let’s step back a bit and look at the Hawaiʻi ties of Sun Yat-sen and those ties to the China revolution.

As the title suggests, it was here that Sun formed his first revolutionary organization that succeeded in overthrowing the Manchu dynasty, bringing an end to more than 4,000 years of imperial rule in China.

In 1879, then 13 years of age, Sun Yat-sen journeyed to Hawaiʻi to join his older brother, Sun Mei, a successful rice farmer, rancher and merchant. Sun entered ʻIolani at age 14. After three years there, he attended Oʻahu College (Punahou School,) and may have had classes at St Louis, as well.

In Sun Yat-Sen’s four years in Hawaiʻi (1879-1883,) he was exposed to Western ideas, was strongly influenced by them and in his young mind, the seeds of Western democracy were planted. The Anglican and Protestant Christian religious teachings at each rounded his western education. (Sun was later baptized.)

He came to Hawaiʻi on six different occasions, initially for schooling and to support his brother’s businesses on Maui. Later, his trips were geared to gain support for revolutionizing China and fundraising for that end.

On his third trip in Hawaiʻi (on November 24, 1894) Sun established the Hsing Chung Hui (Revive China Society,) his first revolutionary society. Among its founders were many Christians, one of them being Chung Ku Ai, his fellow student at ʻIolani (and later founder of City Mill.)

Shortly after, in January 1895, Dr. Sun left Hawaiʻi and returned to China to initiate his revolutionary activities in earnest. The funding of the First Canton Uprising mainly came from the Chinese in Hawaiʻi (that first uprising failed.)

On another visit to Hawaiʻi (in 1903,) Sun reorganized the Hsing Chung Hui into Chung Hua Ke Min Jun (The Chinese Revolutionary Army) in Hilo.

Another Hawaiʻi tie for Sun relates to the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 that blocked Chinese travel to the US. In March 1904, while residing in Kula, Maui, Sun Yat-sen obtained a Certificate of Hawaiian Birth, issued by the Territory of Hawaiʻi, stating that “he was born in the Hawaiian Islands on the 24th day of November, A.D. 1870.”

He used it to travel to the continent; then, when it was no longer needed, he renounced it.

In 1905, in Tokyo, Sun reorganized the Hsing Chung Hui and other organizations into a political party called the Tung Meng Hui. Likewise, the Chinese Revolutionary Army was reorganized and all of its members became Tung Meng Hui members.

This party spread all over China and rallied all the revolutionists under its wings. He then made his last visit to Hawaiʻi to form the Hawaiʻi Chapter of Tung Meng Hui.

From 1894 to 1911, Sun traveled around the globe advocating revolution and soliciting funds for the cause. At first, he concentrated on China, but his continued need for money forced him elsewhere. Southeast Asia, Japan, Hawaiʻi, Canada, the United States and Europe all became familiar during his endless quest. (Damon)

The revolutionary movement in China grew stronger and stronger. Tung Meng Hui members staged many armed uprisings, culminating in the October 10, 1911 Wuhan (Wuchang) Uprising which succeeded in overthrowing the Manchu dynasty and established the Republic of China.

That date is now celebrated annually as the Republic of China’s national day, also known as the “Double Ten Day”. On December 29, 1911, Sun Yat-Sen was elected president and on January 1, 1912, he was officially inaugurated. After Sun’s death in March 1925, Chiang Kai-shek became the leader of the Kuomintang (KMT.)

The Republic of China governed mainland China until 1949; in that year, during the Chinese Civil War, the communists captured Beijing and later Nanjing. The communist-party-led People’s Republic of China was proclaimed on October 1, 1949.

Originally based in mainland China, Chiang Kai-shek and a few hundred thousand Republic of China troops and two million refugees fled from mainland China to Taiwan (formerly known as “Formosa.”)

On December 7, 1949 Chiang proclaimed Taipei, Taiwan, the temporary capital of the Republic of China and it now governs the island of Taiwan. Sun Yat-sen is one of the few Chinese revolutionary figures revered in both the People’s Republic of China (mainland) and Republic of China (Taiwan.)

Hawaiʻi and its people played an important role in the life of Sun Yat-sen, as well as in his revolutionary activities. His first revolutionary organization was formed in Hawaiʻi, it developed into the political party directly responsible for the collapse of the Manchus.

People in Hawaiʻi joined the Hui, contributed their efforts and funds and in many instances even their lives to China’s revolution. Sun once said: “overseas Chinese are the mother of revolution”. (Lots of information here from Damon, SunYatSenHawaii-org) (By the way, Hui is Chinese and it means “to gather together.”)

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Sun Yat-sen (2nd from left)-Yeung Hok-ling (L) Chan Siu-bak (2nd from right) Yau Lit (R) & Guan Jingliang (stand)
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Establishment of the republic of China with display of two flags of the Wuhan Uprising
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Hong Kong’s Sun Yat-sen Memorial Park-HongKong
Kamaole, Maui-sign noting it as the Maui Branch revolutionary headquarters where Sun had stayed-(SunYatSenHawaii)
OR&L-Honolulu-showing_City_Mill-founded_by_Sun_friend-Chung_Ku_Ai
Soldiers of the Wuchang uprising
Street view of Young Goon Fancy Dry Goods store fronting Market St. in Wailuku Maui-(SunYatSenHawaii)
Sun Yat Sen statue at Keokea Park, located along Lower Kula Road. Photo courtesy, County of Maui.
Sun Yat-sen (middle, dressed in white) and Chiang Kai-shek (on stage in uniform) Whampoa Military Academy-1924
Sun Yat-sen statue in Kepaniwai Park, located in Iao Valley. Photo courtesy, County of Maui
Sun Yat-sen to James Cantlie announcing he has assumed the Presidency of Republic-Jan_21_1912
1911 Revolution Plaza. Sculpture of Tsun Yee Sen, the National Father of modern China.
1911 Revolution Plaza. Sculpture of Tsun Yee Sen, the National Father of modern China.
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Sun_Yat-sen_Hawaii_Birth_Certificate-Issued_by_the_US_to_allow_Sun's_travel_in_Us
Sun_Yat-sen_Hawaii_Birth_Certificate-letter
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Sun_Yat-sen_Mausoleum
Sun_Yat-sen_Park-Keakoa-Kula-Maui
SunYatSen-age-13-BethelHotel
Wing Cheong Lung store-Honolulu's Chinatown at Maunakea and Hotel Streets-revolutionay meetings and transient quarters

Filed Under: Prominent People Tagged With: Sun Yat-sen, Republic of China, Taiwan, Wuhan Uprising, Hawaii, Oahu, Maui, Chiang Kai-shek

November 24, 2014 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Certificate of Hawaiian Birth

Sun Yat-sen, the Founding Father of modern China, the Republic of China (Nationalist China) and the forerunner of democratic revolution in the People’s Republic of China, was born November 12, 1866, to an ordinary farmer’s family in Cuiheng Village, Xiangshan, in the south of the Pearl River Delta of the South China province of Guangdong.

In 1879, then 13 years of age, he journeyed to Hawaiʻi to join his older brother, Sun Mei, a successful rice farmer, rancher and merchant.  He entered ʻIolani at age 14.  With long hair pulled back in a traditional queue, he was enrolled in 1879 without knowing any English.  (ʻIolani)

In Sun Yat-sen’s four years in Hawai’i (1879-1883), he is said to have attended three Christian educational institutions: ʻIolani College, Oʻahu College (Punahou School) and St Louis College.

He came to Hawaiʻi on six different occasions, initially for schooling and to support his brother’s businesses on Maui.  Later, his trips were geared to gain support for revolutionizing China and fundraising for that end.

He was known by a lot of names.  As a young student, he was called Tai Cheong or Tai Chu.  His official name is Sun Wen; when he signed letters and documents in Chinese, he used the name Sun Wen. When he signed letters and documents in English, he used the name Sun Yat-sen.  (Lum)

In 1897, when he was in Tokyo, he picked up a Japanese name, Nakayama, from a nameplate on a house he passed. In Chinese, Nakayama is read as Chung-Shan. This is how his name Sun Chung-shan came about.  (Lum)

The place of his birth, previously known as Xiāngshān, had been renamed Zhōngshān – Sun Yat-sen was known in Chinese as Sun Zhongshan.

Let’s look a little closer at his birth place – while officially (and factually) Sun was born in China, he was able to later obtain a birth certificate that claimed he was a “native born Hawaiian.”

Sun needed to travel to get backing for his revolutionary plans, as well as raise funds to support it.  With the US Chinese Exclusion Act (1882) severely limiting Chinese immigration, Sun had difficulty entering the US and was even detained by US authorities at one point.

To top it off, the Manchu Government first put a prize of $35,000 on his head and later, raised it to $75,000.  Realizing his danger, Sun cut off his queue, raised a moustache, dressed himself in foreign style and look passage for Japan, where he preached his doctrine to the Chinese students in the Japanese universities.  (In Young, 1911)

Sun’s detention prompted an overseas Chinese to say that if Sun wanted to promote a Chinese revolution on US soil, it would be best if he had US citizenship.

Sun’s friends in San Francisco set in motion plans for him to obtain US citizenship by faking a birth certificate showing that he was born in Honolulu.  (Taipei Times)

In 1900, the Hawaiian Organic Act was passed stating that any person that was a citizen of the Republic of Hawaiʻi on or before August 12, 1898 would also become a citizen of the United States.

In various statements and affidavits, Sun and others set the foundation for a claim of his birth in Hawaiʻi.  It was a makeshift plan for the good of the revolution.  (Taipei Times)

“I was born in Honolulu and went to China came back from Hong Kong to Honolulu in the early part of 1896 or the last part of 1895, I staid at Honolulu for 4 or 5 months and then came on to San Francisco …  I came in on Student and Travelers Sect. 6 certificate … as a subject of China.”  (Sun Yat-sen April 14, 1904)

“Some time after the annexation of the Hawaiian Islands to the United States, there was a registration taken of all the residents for the purpose of ascertaining the nationality and birth of each resident.”

“I was registered in the Kula district, in the Island of Maui, as a Hawaiian-born Chinese, about March or April in the year 1901.  That is the first thing that I did after the annexation of the Islands to show that I still claimed citizenship there … .”  (Sun Yat-sen, April 21, 1904)

Supporting Sun’s birth place claims, Wong Kwai signed a sworn statement noting, “He (Sun) was born at Ewa (Waimano) Oahu.”  Benjamin Starr Kapu further supported this noting, “Sun Yat-sen, a full Chinese person, who was born at Waimano Oahu … in the year 1870.”

His Punahou teacher, Francis Damon, certified to his good character but did not swear on the issue of birth.  (Smyser)

As a “citizen of Hawaiʻi” Sun could travel to the US continent in the early-1900s to rally both support and funds for his revolutionary efforts.

In March 1904, while residing in Kula, Maui, Sun Yat-sen obtained a Certificate of Hawaiian Birth, issued by the Territory of Hawaiʻi, stating that “he was born in the Hawaiian Islands on the 24th day of November, AD 1870.”

Rather than using his own birth date, Sun selected November 24, 1870 to reflect the founding date of the Hsing Chung Hui to establish a connection with his revolutionary activities.  (Taipei Times)

(On his third trip in Hawaiʻi (on November 24, 1894) Sun established the Hsing Chung Hui (Revive China Society,) his first revolutionary society. Among its founders were many Christians, one of them being Chung Ku Ai, his fellow student at ʻIolani (and later founder of City Mill.))

Although not born in the Islands, Sun Yat-sen apparently felt at home in Hawaiʻi. “This is my Hawai‘i … here I was brought up and educated, and it was here that I came to know what modern, civilized governments are like and what they mean.” (Sun Yat-sen, 1910)

When the birth certificate was no longer needed, he renounced it.

The revolutionary movement in China grew stronger and stronger. Tung Meng Hui members staged many armed uprisings, culminating in the October 10, 1911 Wuhan (Wuchang) Uprising which succeeded in overthrowing the Manchu dynasty and established the Republic of China.

That date is now celebrated annually as the Republic of China’s national day, also known as the “Double Ten Day”. On December 29, 1911, Sun Yat-sen was elected the interim president.  After Sun’s death on March 12, 1925, Chiang Kai-shek became the leader of the Kuomintang (KMT.)

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Sun Yat-sen-Statement-04-21-1904
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Sun Yat-sen-Statement-04-14-1904-1
Sun Yat-sen-Statement-04-14-1904-2
Admit Sun Yat-sen and persons in his party. Avoid Publicity-02-04-1914
Sun Yat-sen-Denial_to_Land-Deportation_Order-04-15-1904-1
Sun Yat-sen-Denial_to_Land-Deportation_Order-04-15-1904-2
Sun Yat-sen-Denial_to_Land-Deportation_Order-04-15-1904-3
Sun Yat-sen-'Incite_Chinese'-Deny_Landing-01-23-1914
Sun_Yat-sen_Hawaii_Birth_Certificate-letter
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Testimony_Starr_Kapu-Sun_Yat_Sen

Filed Under: Missionaries / Churches / Religious Buildings, Prominent People, Schools Tagged With: Iolani School, Sun Yat-sen, College of St Louis, Republic of China, Hawaii, City Mill, Punahou, St Louis, CK Ai, Chiang Kai-shek, Francis Damon, Oahu College

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