Three Principles of the People
Also called: San min chu-i · Topic: Paths to Modernisation: Japan, China, Korea · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 7 "Paths to Modernisation"
Meaning
The Three Principles of the People (San min chu-i) were Sun Yat-sen's programme for a new China, and they became the base of the Guomindang's ideas. The first was nationalism: throwing out the Manchu rulers and the foreign imperialists who controlled China. The second was democracy: a democratic government. The third was socialism: controlling big capital (business wealth) and making landholdings more equal. The plan aimed to make China free, modern and fair.
Example
Sun gave these principles to the Republic of China, set up in 1911. Under Chiang Kai-shek, the Guomindang never really carried out the third principle, because it did not try to make land ownership equal.
Don't confuse with
- May Fourth slogans (1919): modern science, democracy and nationalism. "Science" is not one of Sun's three principles.
- Four great needs: clothing, food, housing and transportation. These were a separate Guomindang list.
Related concepts
- Xinhai Revolution 1911
- Sun Yat-sen
- Twenty-One Demands 1915
- May Fourth Movement
- Guomindang
- Chiang Kai-shek