It was not, however, until 1905 that Sun publicly declared his adherence to these ideas and worked them out in fuller detail. He attempted to use the reaction after the Boxer outbreak of 190o as a means of establishing a democratic government and ending the Manchu regime, but this attempt as others proved abortive. In 1905 the Chinese Revolutionary League was formed in Europe and Japan, and through this Dr. Sun enlisted the support of a great number of Chinese not resident in China. During this period he raised large sums of money, and was thus able to spread his ideas through secret agencies in China itself. A large price, finally amounting to L 1oo,000, was placed upon his head. On one occasion in 1896 he was kidnapped while in London and held at the Chinese legation for several days. His release came about through a note to Sir James Cantlie, which was smuggled out of the legation. Lord Salisbury then took the matter up.
Sun's personal influence had much to do with the inner organ ization of the revolution of 1911 against the Manchu government (see CHINA, History). While there was a widespread feeling that the dynasty had outlived its usefulness, there was little under standing of what was involved in establishing a republic and only the efficient organization of the Kuomintang (Sun's creation, known as the Republican party) was able to turn the anti-Manchu tide into a pro-republican movement. Sun was in England when the revolution began. He returned to China, and on Jan. 5, 1912, he took the oath of office as provisional president of the new republic, at the request of the national convention in Nanking.
On Feb. 12 an imperial edict announced the abdication of the emperor and the substitution of republican for monarchical Gov ernment. Yuan Shih-K'ai was entrusted with the task of carrying through the changes involved, and Sun, realizing the impossibility of uniting the country under his own presidency, resigned his presidency in favour of Yuan. He accepted the post of Director General of Transport and Trade, but was always more of the propagandist and inspirer than the practical administrator.
He became increasingly restless under the leadership of Yuan Shih-K'ai, and in 1917, after the latter's coup d'etat and death, he put himself at the head of a movement for an independent republic of South China. The strength of his support had always been drawn from Kwang-tung province, and he soon found it impossible to co-operate with the military leaders in Canton. He therefore resigned from his position as president of the republic of South China. The military regime was maintained largely by
Kwang Si troops until 1921 when Ch'en Ch'iung-ming drove them out and called in Sun again.
The following year he determined on an advance in force against the north, while Ch'en Ch'iung-ming desired to consolidate the work begun in the province of Kwang-tung. This led to an open breach and Sun was once more driven from his native prov ince, finding refuge in Shanghai. In Feb. 1923 he called to his aid troops from Kwangsi and Yunnan and thus defeated his one time colleague and subsequent rival, General Ch'en. From that time until his death he was acknowledged as the chief executive of the province, but his effective sway did not extend far beyond Canton. He used and permitted violent methods, more particu larly in the attack upon the Merchants Volunteer corps and the looting and burning of a considerable part of the city of Canton in March 1924. In this way he lost much of the support which had been given to him and to the Kuomintang by Chinese over seas. But his socialist views ensured him the support of the mass of the workers, and he repeatedly secured rises in wages for the Canton workers.
So far as local support was concerned Sun's star seemed to be declining in the autumn of 1924, but he was still idolized by the student class and in his own party where his was a name to conjure with. It was then that Feng Yii-hsiang brought about his coup whereby Wu Pei-fu (a determined enemy of Sun's) was routed and Chang Tso-ling co-operated with Feng to put the old Anfu leader Tuan Ch'i-jui in the position of Chief Executive in Peking. Sun had been cultivating friendly relations with the parties now predominant, and he was called to Peking to confer with them in regard to the calling of a people's conference and other matters connected with the establishment of the new regime. He died of cancer on March 12, 1925, at Peking. An impressive memorial, built at Nanking, received his remains in 1929.
His public works include a number of speeches, articles and pam phlets, more particularly the following: The Doctrine of Sun Wen; The International Development of China; The Principles of Demo cratic Government (statement of 25 outstanding points). See Sir James Cantlie and C. S. Jones, Sun Yat Sen and the Awakening of China (1912) ; P. Linebarger, Sun Yat Sen and the Chinese Republic (1925) ; Sun Vat Sets, Memoirs of et Chinese Revolutionary (2927).