Editing Three Principles of the People (section)

==The Principles==
{{More citations needed|section|date=September 2021}}

===''Mínzú'' or Nationalism===
Because "[[Minzu (anthropology)|Mínzú]]" or "People" describes a nation rather than a group of persons united by a purpose, the 'Principle of Mínzú' ({{Lang-zh|t=民族主義|p=Mínzú Zhǔyì}}) is commonly rendered as "[[nationalism]]".

==== National Independence ====
Sun saw the Chinese Nation as under threat of annihilation by the imperialist powers.<ref>{{Cite wikisource|title=三民主义|wslanguage=zh|chapter=民族主義第五講}}</ref> To reverse the trajectory of such decline, China needed to become nationally independent both externally and internally.

Internally, national independence meant independence from the [[Qing dynasty|Qing]] [[Manchu people|Manchus]] who ruled China for centuries.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=三民主义与五权分立——在东京《民报》创刊周年庆祝大会的演说 – 主要著述 – 孙中山故居纪念馆_伟人孙中山 |url=http://www.sunyat-sen.org/index.php?m=content&c=index&a=show&catid=46&id=6675 |access-date=9 April 2022 |website=www.sunyat-sen.org |archive-date=2 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220502230704/http://www.sunyat-sen.org/index.php?m=content&c=index&a=show&catid=46&id=6675 |url-status=live }}</ref> Sun thought that the Han Chinese people were a people without their own nation and thus strove for national revolution against Qing authorities.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Ling |first=Yu-long |date=2012 |title=Dr. Sun Yat-sen's Doctrine and Impact on the Modern World |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44288973 |journal=American Journal of Chinese Studies |volume=19 |issue=1 |pages=1–11 |jstor=44288973 |issn=2166-0042 |access-date=9 April 2022 |archive-date=9 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220409185400/https://www.jstor.org/stable/44288973 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Externally, national independence meant independence from imperialist foreign powers. Sun believed China to be threatened by imperialism in three ways: by economic oppression, by political aggression, and by slow population growth.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last=Weaver |first=William C. |date=1939 |title=The Social, Economic, and Political Philosophy of Dr. Sun Yat-Sen |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/24435880 |journal=The Historian |volume=1 |issue=2 |pages=132–141 |doi=10.1111/j.1540-6563.1939.tb00469.x |jstor=24435880 |issn=0018-2370 |access-date=9 April 2022 |archive-date=9 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220409185402/https://www.jstor.org/stable/24435880 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref> Economically, Sun held the [[Mercantilism|mercantilist]] position that China was being economically exploited by [[Balance of trade|unbalanced trade]] and [[tariff]]s.<ref name=":2" /> Politically, he looked toward the [[Unequal treaty|unequal treaties]] signed by China as the reason of China's decline. Sun envisioned a future China that was strong and capable of fighting imperialists and standing on the same stage as western powers.<ref name=":1" />

==== Five Races Under One Union ====
{{Main|Five Races Under One Union}}
Although Sun initially believed in a form of [[Han nationalism]] to oppose the rule of the Qing dynasty, he later came to accept [[Liang Qichao]]’s multi-ethnic nationalist idea of a unified Chinese nation. To achieve "national independence", Sun believed that China must first develop a "[[Chinese nationalism|China-nationalism]]," ''[[Zhonghua Minzu]]'', as opposed to an [[Ethnic nationalism|mono-ethnic nationalism]]. Sun developed the principles of [[Five Races Under One Union]] to unite the five major ethnic groups of China—[[Han Chinese|Han]], [[Mongols in China|Mongols]], [[Tibetans]], [[Manchus]], and the [[Islam in China|Muslims]] (such as the [[Uyghurs]])—under one "Chinese Nation". This principle is symbolized by the [[Five Races Under One Union|Five Color Flag]] of the [[Beiyang government|First Republic of China (1911–1928)]]. He believed that China must develop a "national consciousness" so as to unite the Chinese people in the face of imperialist aggression. He argued that "minzu", which can be translated as "people", "nationality", or "race", was defined by sharing common blood, livelihood, religion, language, and customs. Sun also believed in a form of [[interculturalism]] that assimilated ethnic minorities into the dominant Han culture by a process of naturalization, rather than through brute force.

==== Cultural conservatism ====
The Three Principles of the People were partly related to [[cultural conservatism]] (文化保守主義) to defend the virtues of Chinese culture against Western imperialism, while embracing some of the modern elements. Sun Yat-sen defended socialism, but distanced himself from dogmatic [[Marxism]]. He criticized young people's obsession with Western-style Marxism and saw that similar ideas could be found in Chinese classics. Also, Sun embraced modernism, but at the same time highlighted a positive part of [[Chinese tradition]].

===''Mínquán'' or Governance Rights===
The framing of '[[Democracy in China|democracy]]' ({{Lang-zh|t=民權主義|p=Mínquán Zhǔyì|l=Principle of people's right}}) in the Three Principles of the People differs from the typical Western view democracy, being based in Liang's interpretation of [[General will]], which prioritizes the power of the group over individual freedoms.<ref name=":17">{{Cite book |last=Crean |first=Jeffrey |title=The Fear of Chinese Power: an International History |date=2024 |publisher=[[Bloomsbury Academic]] |isbn=978-1-350-23394-2 |edition= |series=New Approaches to International History series |location=London, UK}}</ref>{{Rp|page=54}} Sun viewed traditional Chinese society as too individualistic and stated that individual liberty must be broken down so that the Chinese people could pressed together, using the metaphor of adding cement to sand.<ref name=":17" />{{Rp|page=54}}

==== Four Rights of the People ====
The power of politics ({{Lang-zh|c=政權|p=zhèngquán}}) are the powers of the people to express their political wishes and keep administrative officers in check, similar to those vested in the citizenry or the parliaments in other countries, and is represented by the [[National Assembly of the Republic of China|National Assembly]]. The power of the people is guaranteed by four constitutional rights: the right to [[election]] (選舉), [[recall election|recalling]] (罷免), [[Popular initiative|initiative]] (創制), and [[referendum]] (複決).<ref>{{Cite wikisource|title=三民主義|wslanguage=zh|chapter=民权主義第五講}}</ref> These may be equated to "[[civil rights]]".

==== Five Power Constitution ====
{{Main|Constitution of the Republic of China}}
The power of governance ({{Lang-zh|c=治權|p=zhìquán}}) are the powers of the administration to govern the people. He criticized the traditional [[Separation of powers|three-branch democratic government]] for vesting too much power in the legislative branch.<ref name=":0" /> He expanded and reworked the European-American [[Three powers of the State|three-branch government]] and the system of [[Separation of powers#Checks and balances|checks and balances]] by incorporating traditional Chinese administrative systems to create a government of five branches (each of which is called a Yuan ({{Lang-zh|c=院|p=yuàn|l=court}})) in a system known as the Five Power Constitution.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Five-Power Constitution {{!}} Chinese government {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/event/Five-Power-Constitution |access-date=9 April 2022 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en |archive-date=26 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220626050015/https://www.britannica.com/event/Five-Power-Constitution |url-status=live }}</ref> The state is divided into five "Yuan"s: [[Legislative Yuan]], the [[Executive Yuan]], and the [[Judicial Yuan]] came from [[Charles de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu|Montesquieu]]an thought; the [[Control Yuan]] and the [[Examination Yuan]] came from Chinese tradition.<ref name=":1" /> (Note that the Legislative Yuan was first intended as a branch of governance, not strictly equivalent to a national parliament.)

===''Mínshēng'' or Welfare Rights===
{{main article|Socialist ideology of the Kuomintang}}
The Principle of Mínshēng ({{Lang-zh|t=民生主義|p=Mínshēng Zhǔyì|l=Principle of people's welfare/livelihood}}) is sometimes translated as "[Principle of] Government for the People" or "[[Socialist ideology of the Kuomintang|Socialism]]". The concept may be understood as [[social welfare]] and as a direct criticism of the inadequacies of unregulated [[capitalism]]. He divided livelihood into four areas: clothing, food, housing, and mobility; and planned out how an ideal (Chinese) government can take care of these for its people.

==== Equalization of Land Rights ====
{{See also|Georgism|Land reform in Taiwan}}

Sun was influenced by the American thinker [[Henry George]] and intended to introduce a [[Georgist]] tax reform.<ref>{{cite book|last=Trescott|first=Paul B.|title=Jingji Xue: The History of the Introduction of Western Economic Ideas Into China, 1850–1950|year=2007|publisher=Chinese University Press|pages=46–48|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RkJtJm9L7mQC&pg=PA48 |quote=The teachings of your single-taxer, Henry George, will be the basis of our program of reform.|isbn=9789629962425}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Schiffrin |first=Harold |date=1957 |title=Sun Yat-sen's Early Land Policy: The Origin and Meaning of "Equalization of Land Rights" |journal=The Journal of Asian Studies |volume=16 |issue=4 |pages=549–564 |doi=10.2307/2941638 |jstor=2941638 |s2cid=164082381 |issn=0021-9118 |doi-access=free }}</ref> The [[land value tax]] in Taiwan is a legacy thereof. Sun said that "[land value tax] as the only means of supporting the government is an infinitely just, reasonable, and equitably distributed tax, and on it we will found our new system."<ref>Post, Louis Freeland (12 April 1912). "Sun Yat Sen's Economic Program for China". The Public. 15: 349. Retrieved 8 November 2016.</ref>

Sun proposed a land reform system known as "equalization of land rights", which involves the implementation of four different acts: regulation of land price, in which each landowner reports the value of their property sans improvement; taxation of land, which involves a [[land value tax]] set on all land properties; purchase of land, which sets up a system where government can purchase land for public use by [[eminent domain]]; and profit belongs to the public, in which a 100% tax is levied on all profit gained from trading of land (sans improvement). According to Sun, the existence of land purchase and land taxation guarantees that landowner wouldn't over-report (which would lead to high taxation on land) nor under-report (which would lead to their land being cheaply acquired for eminent domain) their land values.<ref>{{Cite wikisource|title=三民主义|wslanguage=zh|chapter=民生主義第二講}}</ref>

However, the [[Kuomintang]] failed to achieve any successful land reform Sun envisioned in mainland China and only succeeded in [[Land reform in Taiwan|Taiwan]].

==== Impact ====
Sun died before he was able to fully explain his vision of this Principle and it has been the subject of much debate within both the Chinese Nationalist and Communist Parties, with the latter suggesting that Sun supported [[socialism]]. [[Chiang Kai-shek]] further elaborated the Mínshēng principle of both the importance of social well-being and recreational activities for a modernized China in 1953 in Taiwan.<ref name="naer">{{cite web|url=http://terms.naer.edu.tw/detail/1304097/?index=1|title=〔民生主義育樂兩篇補述〕|publisher=terms.naer.edu.tw|access-date=24 December 2015|archive-date=24 December 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151224163934/http://terms.naer.edu.tw/detail/1304097/?index=1|url-status=live}}</ref>