Principle Of Nationalism In China

Secondly, the Principle of Nationalism shapes Chinese’s national awareness instead of subjectives of kings and members of a patriarchal clan. “In the ‘old’ empires and kingdoms, each subject relates to the sovereign (king). In nation-states, each subject relates to the other ‘horizontally”(Bram). Although Sun was not the first person who proposed the nationalism in China, his virtuous propaganda made national awareness be entrenched in Chinese people’s minds. Before the popularized of the Principle of nationalism, most Chinese regarded themselves as the subjects of the Qing Dynasty. The awareness that they could constitute a nation state did not exist. By means of Principle of Nationalism, the national awareness gradually became widespread

“Sun’s genius of vision provided a feasible solution to the serious strife in the world and among all Asian nations”(Zhang 64). Between the 19th century and 20th century, not only China was in the control of the West, but many other nations were in the control of the West. For example, India was colonized by the Great British; Indonesia was colonized by Netherlands; Vietnam was colonized by France; the Philippines was colonized by Spain. Most nations in Asia were forced to join the global market and provided raw materials for the West. In this kind of situation, the nationalists, patriots were eager to save their motherlands and found proper ways to become independent and strong. Different nations had resistance for many times. For instance, Indian Rebellion of 1857; Rebellion in Vietnam between 1891 and 1898 led by Hoàng Hoa Thám; Philippines struggled to overthrow the Spanish rule from 1896 to 1898. All in all, the oppressed Asians never stopped to struggle for independence and freedom. What is more, Sun Yat-sen’s revolutionary theory and its great practice had an important impact on the liberation movement of the oppressed peoples of Asia. “He is good at solving the common problems of the Far East countries, therefore, he gave great encouragement to a group young patriots from Korea, Japan, India, Siam, Chinese and Philippines”(Li 491). Sun made use of his impacts and ability to support the nationalism activities in other countries. According to Li, at the beginning of the 20th century, Sun Yat- sen went to Vietnam many times, devoting himself to continue to advocating the revolutionary ideas, and tries to awaken the overseas Chinese and the local people(490). In other words, Sun’s revolutionary ideas and active support made great contributions to national liberation movement in