Sun Yat-sen University in Moscow and the Chinese Revolution - KU ...
Sun Yat-sen University in Moscow and the Chinese Revolution - KU ...
Sun Yat-sen University in Moscow and the Chinese Revolution - KU ...
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<strong>Sun</strong>'s curious <strong>sen</strong>tence, which added, ". . . it is Utopianism." 6 Ano<strong>the</strong>r<br />
favorite quotation which <strong>the</strong>y used was:<br />
I can put my dist<strong>in</strong>ction to-day between communism <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> M<strong>in</strong>-sheng<br />
[People's] Pr<strong>in</strong>ciple <strong>in</strong> this way; communism is an ideal of livelihood, while <strong>the</strong><br />
M<strong>in</strong>-sheng Pr<strong>in</strong>ciple is practical communism. There is no real difference between<br />
<strong>the</strong> two pr<strong>in</strong>ciples—Communism <strong>and</strong> M<strong>in</strong>-sheng—<strong>the</strong> difference lies <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> methods<br />
by which <strong>the</strong>y are applied. 7<br />
KMT students, forced to respond to such challeng<strong>in</strong>g quotations,<br />
countered <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> university's wall newspaper with an article entitled<br />
"The Pr<strong>in</strong>ciple of Livelihood is not Communism," by a student named<br />
Hsiao. Hsiao produced a passage from Dr. <strong>Sun</strong>'s second lecture on <strong>the</strong><br />
subject: "They [CCP members] do not realize that our Pr<strong>in</strong>ciple of<br />
Livelihood is a form of communism. It is not a form that orig<strong>in</strong>ated<br />
with Marx but a form that was practiced when primitive man appeared<br />
upon <strong>the</strong> earth." 8<br />
To fur<strong>the</strong>r streng<strong>the</strong>n his argument, Hsiao added this quote from<br />
<strong>Sun</strong> <strong>Yat</strong>-<strong>sen</strong>: "So <strong>in</strong> work<strong>in</strong>g out our Pr<strong>in</strong>ciple of Livelihood, we cannot<br />
use or apply <strong>in</strong> Ch<strong>in</strong>a <strong>the</strong> methods of Marx, although we have <strong>the</strong><br />
deepest respect for his teach<strong>in</strong>g. . . . Even Marx's disciples say that we<br />
cannot use his methods for <strong>the</strong> solution of all social problems <strong>in</strong><br />
Ch<strong>in</strong>a." 9<br />
Communist students counterattacked by recall<strong>in</strong>g that Dr. <strong>Sun</strong> had<br />
written: "This proposal that all future <strong>in</strong>crement shall be given to <strong>the</strong><br />
community is <strong>the</strong> 'equalization of l<strong>and</strong> ownership' advocated by <strong>the</strong><br />
Kuom<strong>in</strong>tang; it is <strong>the</strong> M<strong>in</strong>-sheng Pr<strong>in</strong>ciple. This form of <strong>the</strong> M<strong>in</strong>sheng<br />
Pr<strong>in</strong>ciple is communism, <strong>and</strong> s<strong>in</strong>ce <strong>the</strong> members of <strong>the</strong> Kuom<strong>in</strong>tang<br />
support <strong>the</strong> San M<strong>in</strong> Pr<strong>in</strong>ciples <strong>the</strong>y should not oppose communism."<br />
10<br />
Indeed, <strong>the</strong>re was an abundance of quotations <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> writ<strong>in</strong>gs of <strong>Sun</strong><br />
<strong>Yat</strong>-<strong>sen</strong> to replenish <strong>the</strong> polemical ar<strong>sen</strong>als of both Communist <strong>and</strong><br />
KMT students, <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> polemic went on <strong>and</strong> on. It was not surpris<strong>in</strong>g,<br />
of course, that both bodies of students could f<strong>in</strong>d what <strong>the</strong>y sought <strong>in</strong><br />
Dr. <strong>Sun</strong>'s work on <strong>the</strong> "Pr<strong>in</strong>ciple of Livelihood." For <strong>Sun</strong> <strong>Yat</strong>-<strong>sen</strong> had<br />
written it at a time when he was striv<strong>in</strong>g to mobilize heterogeneous<br />
forces beh<strong>in</strong>d his movement. Disheartened by repeated lack of support<br />
from <strong>the</strong> West, he was seek<strong>in</strong>g aid from <strong>the</strong> Soviet Union, while also<br />
seek<strong>in</strong>g to make such use as he could of <strong>the</strong> fledgl<strong>in</strong>g CCP. At <strong>the</strong> same<br />
100