China reinterprets history to serve today's purposes

THIS month marks the 150th anniversary of the birth of Sun Yat-sen, who is revered as the father of modern China throughout the Chinese-speaking world.

Stamps in his honour were issued in mainland China, in Hong Kong and in Macao. In Taiwan, which is still known as the Republic of China, he is known as the founder of the republic. In mainland China, the Communist Party honours him as the "great forerunner of the revolution".

Sun had a special connection with Hong Kong, where in 1892 he became one of the first graduates of the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese. He also has a connection with Macao, where he established a medical practice before moving to Canton (Guangzhou) on the mainland and, subsequently, abandoned medicine for politics. After many failures, he finally brought down China's last imperial dynasty, the Qing of the Manchus, in 1911. Asia's first republic was then proclaimed, and Sun became its interim president.