Sun Yat sen political philosophy

This essay is supposed to be 6-8 pages (double spaced) and it’s for a class about Chinese history. We can consult scholarly works – monographs and/or scholarly journal article – and integrate them into a coherent, argument-driven paper.

My idea: I want to delve into the three principles and exploring the kind of China, government, and Chinese people Sun Yat-sen envisioned. 

Texts that my teacher wants me to consider:

· Sun Yat-sen’s lectures on the “Three People’s principles”

· "The Four Powers of the People (1924)" by Sun Yat sen

· "The Principle of Democracy" (1924) – also by Sun Yat sen

Pointers and guidance given by my teacher:

· Consider addressing nationalism (first principle) in relation to Sun's anti-Manchu ideology and his later advocacy for self-determination for the Chinese people as a whole.

· The second principle "democracy" - Sun Yat-sen's interpretation of democracy differs from the Western perspective.

· He defined it as the Chinese people's control over their government and nation.

· The principle of "people's livelihood" also appears to be less clearly defined.

· In summary, Sun seems to envision popular sovereignty with responsible citizens governing the nation, in contrast to the Western concern about an overly powerful government.

GRADING RUBRIC