Talk:Dr. Sun Yat Sen

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In 1883, 17-year-old Sun Yat-sen was baptized Christian, and he started his studies in (Formerly a Crown Colony on the coast of southern China in Guangdong province; leased by China to Britain in 1842 and returned in 1997; one of the world's leading commercial centers) Hong Kong. On that occasion, he chose himself a pseudonym (號): Rixin (日新, meaning "renew oneself daily"). Allegedly he chose this name in reference to a sentence inside the (A believer in the teachings of Confucius) Confucian classic book (Click link for more info and facts about The Great Learning) The Great Learning: "If you renew yourself for one day, you can renew yourself daily, and continue to do so" (「苟日新，日日新，又日新」). This is the name he used while a student in (Formerly a Crown Colony on the coast of southern China in Guangdong province; leased by China to Britain in 1842 and returned in 1997; one of the world's leading commercial centers) Hong Kong. Later, his professor of Chinese literature changed this pseudonym into Yixian (逸仙). Unlike in (Shrub or small tree having flattened globose fruit with very sweet aromatic pulp and thin yellow-orange to flame-orange rind that is loose and easily removed; native to southeastern Asia) Mandarin, both pseudonyms are pronounced similarly in (The dialect of Chinese spoken in Canton and neighboring provinces and in Hong Kong and elsewhere outside China) Cantonese: Yat-sen. As this was the name that he used in his frequent contacts with Westerners at the time, he has become known under this name (with Cantonese pronunciation) in the West. In the Chinese world, however, almost nobody uses the Mandarin version Sun Yixian, nor the Cantonese version Sun Yat-sen.

Later, Sun Yat-sen chose a courtesy name (字) which was Zaizhi (載之, meaning "conveying"). Allegedly, this courtesy name was chosen as a reminder of his "school name" Wen ("literary"), based on the Chinese philosophical saying "literature as a vehicle to convey the (The ultimate principle of the universe) Tao" (文以載道). Courtesy names in China often tried to bear a connection with the personal name of the person. His courtesy name, however, was apparently seldom used, and is rarely known in the Chinese world.

In 1897, Sun Yat-sen arrived in Japan, and when he went to the hotel he had to register his name. Desiring to remain hidden from Japanese authorities, his friend wrote down the Japanese family name Nakayama (中山) on the register for him. Allegedly, on their way to the hotel they had passed by the Palace of (Nobleman (in various countries) ranking above a count) Marquis Nakayama (one of the highest ranking (Click link for more info and facts about daimyo) daimyo of Japan) near Hibiya Park in central (The capital and largest city of Japan; the economic and cultural center of Japan) Tokyo, and so his friend chose the family name which they had seen hanging at the door of the palace. During his entire stay in Japan, he was known as Mr. Nakayama. Nakayama is pronounced Zhongshan in (Shrub or small tree having flattened globose fruit with very sweet aromatic pulp and thin yellow-orange to flame-orange rind that is loose and easily removed; native to southeastern Asia) Mandarin Chinese. After his return to (A communist nation that covers a vast territory in eastern Asia; the most populous country in the world) China in 1911, this alias became popular among Chinese republican circles, and so it was that a Japanese family name became his new Chinese given name. This was aided by the fact that Nakayama/Zhongshan literally means "central mountain" (and can even be interpreted as meaning "China's mountain"), which holds very positive and dignified connotations in Chinese. Today, the overwhelming majority of Chinese people know Sun Yat-sen under the name Sun Chungshan or Sun Zhongshan. Often it is shortened to Chungshan/Zhongshan only, and inside China one can find many Chungshan/Zhongshan Avenue, Chungshan/Zhongshan Park, etc. [[1]]

In the archives immigration records he claimed to be born in Maui, Hawaii to get inside the States and there was a bunch of records there which cannot be denied that Dr. Sun had no qualms about lying with the immigration authorities, so the question "Is it okay to be dishonest with the intention to cheat even as a revolutionary? Are there no moral principles to follow?", see Dr. Sun immigration file [[2]]

quote: Fortunately for the history of China, Sun Yat-sen, represented by the Washington, D.C., law firm of Ralston and Siddons, filed an appeal with the Commissioner-General of Immigration n April 26, 1904. On April 28, 1904, the acting secretary of the Department of Commerce and Labor, in a four-page decision contained in the case file, set aside the order of deportation and ordered the Commissioner of Immigration in San Francisco to "permit the said Sun Yat-sen to land." The reasoning in this document is that since San Francisco District had not disputed Dr. Sun’s claim to Hawaiian birth in 1896 when he reached San Francisco from Hawaii (strangely, the birthplace is cited in this document as Maui), U.S. citizenship must be conferred upon him under the act of April 30, 1900 (31 Stat 141) by virtue of his status as a Hawaiian citizen. He must therefore be allowed to land. Thus, rather than facing deportation and certain death in China, Dr. Sun was freed to embark on his second famous fund-raising tour of the United States.unquote!