Introduction

Sun Yat-sen's vision for a modern China is encapsulated in his Three Principles of the People. He professed in 1918 that what he had seen and heard in London in 1896–97 enabled him to synthesise his Three Principles. What exactly did he see and hear?

During his sojourn in London in 1896–97, Sun Yat-sen did not keep a diary. One had to be reconstructed for him. This was done by tracking down at Stanford the reports of the private detective hired by the Chinese Legation to shadow him. Permission was sought from the grandson of Dr James Cantlie (whom Sun Yat-sen visited almost daily while in London) at Christchurch, Dorset, England, to read the diary of his grandmother, Lady Mabel Cantlie. In Shanghai and London might be located the diary and memoirs of some of the Chinese Legation staff in London. In Toyko was available the diary of Sun Yat-sen's Japanese friend Minakata Kumagusu (1867–1941) who was visiting London at the time. A skeleton began to emerge, on which flesh was put with pertinent information sifted from the London daily newspapers, weekly journals, the British Foreign Office records, papers deposited at the First Historical Archives in Beijing, and relevant British biographies. The result was a substantial picture.

The second step was to explore the places which Sun Yat-sen had visited; interview descendants of the people whom he had seen; analyse old notes and photographs; and follow up books or articles which he might have read.

The third step was to pin down reports on all the interviews he might have given, the speeches he might have made, and the works he might have published during his sojourn in London in 1896–97.

The last step was to search the text of his Three Principles to identify aspects which might bear hallmarks of his London experience. The aim was to discover concrete examples of how his daily life in London might have influenced him. After thirty-two years (1979–2011) of research, the following picture emerges.