THE SAN MIN CHU I〈三民主義〉
The Three Principles of the Kuomintang as enunciated by the late Dr. Sun Yat Sen, are Nationalism, Democracy and Livelihood. In other words, the San Min Chu I, or the Three Principles, stand for racial democracy, political democracy and economic democracy, which coincide with the principles of Abraham Lincoln of "a government of the people, by the people and for the people."
NATIONALISM FOR THE PEOPLE〈民族主義〉
The Chinese nation is composed of five racial stocks : — Hans(漢), Manchus(滿), Mongols(蒙), Tartars(回) and Tibetans(藏). Compared to the four hundred million Chinese, there are several million Tibetans, less than a million Mongols, about ten million Tartars and the most insignificant number of Manchus. Mongolia, Manchuria and Tibet are in constant danger of foreign invasion, for the people living in those territories do not have sufficient strength for self-protection, but a united Republic composed of Chinese, Manchus, Mongols, Tartars and Tibetans constitutes a powerful combination. A certain racial distinction still exists which distorts the real meaning of a Republic, so steps must be taken to cement the unity of the individual peoples inhabiting China. In the words of Dr. Sun, we must "satisfy the demands and requirements of all peoples and unite them in a single cultural and political whole, to constitute a single nation with such a name, for example, as 'Chunghua'(中華) — or China, in the widest application of the name."
Political and economic forces have a greater influence upon the rise and fall of nations than natural forces, and China is now being caught in the current of modern world movements. The nineteenth century witnessed the climax to the struggle among the Powers for territorial aggrandizement, and China was subject to the iron heel of foreign aggression. The loss of dependencies was followed by the partition of China into "spheres of influence" wherein the Powers possessing those regions gathered into their hands basic industries, railway concessions, mining concessions and other exclusive rights.
When Germany forcibly occupied Kiaochow(膠州) during 1898, the Powers began to vie with each other for the seizure of Dairen(大連), Kwangchowan(廣州灣), Kowloon(九龍), Wei-hai-wei(威海衛) and other stragetic points. Dr. Sun was of the opinion that: "China is the colony of every nation that has made treaties with her, and the treaty-making nations are her masters. China is not the colony of one nation , but of all ; she is not a semi-colony, but a hypo-colony."
It is imperative that the four hundred million people in China should be awakened and the perilous situation impressed upon them. China formerly declined because she did not know that she was declining, so to revive the lost spirit of nationalism is a matter of life and death to her. The only nation that can save China is China herself, and the first step towards securing real independence is to abolish the unequal treaties which have contributed in no small measure to the economic and political enslavement of China. Nationalist China is now determined to get rid of the unequal treaties in order that she may deal with the Powers on terms of equality and reciprocity.
It is essential, however, that China should endeavour to preserve her ancient morality. The Great Powers have always attempted to destroy other nations, and China should not copy the imperialism of the rapacious Powers and attempt to crush the smaller nations by force, but should follow the ancient morality and teachings of the sages in her international dealings. When China becomes a powerful nation, she should endeavour to lift up the weak and rescue the fallen.
DEMOCRACY FOR THE PEOPLE 〈民權主義〉
Considering tiie great advance in science and industry, the West has made very slow progress in the field of government and there is not much difference between the Democracy of to-day and the democracy of a century ago.
Despite all its advantages, Western democracy has not yet reached true democracy because the political machinery of the West (according to Dr. Sun) is just like a single-acting engine, whose piston can move forward but not backward. With the power of election the people may place the officials in power, but without the right of recall the people cannot control the officials after they are elected. An all-powerful government is desirable, but an all-powerful government which the people cannot control is to be feared.
Dr. Sun did not want to copy the West and adopt machinery which will soon be out of date, so he advocated bestowing upon the people the four rights of suffrage, recall, initiative and referendum. The powers of the government and the powders of the people are to be clearly divided. For many years Dr. Sun has proposed the adoption of the Fivefold Constitution, and the National government is conscientiously carrying out his wishes by establishing the five "yuans"(院) for administering the affairs of the country, the order being as follows: (a) Executive Yuan, (b) Legislative Yuan, (c) Judicial Yuan, (d) Examination Yuan, and (e) Control Yuan.
The late Dr. Sun compared a government to a piece of machinery. When engines were first constructed in the West the piston was single-acting and incapable of reversing, and it was only later on that the piston was made double-acting by means of a reverse gear. Dr. Sun pointed out that when the people have only the right of voting, it may be compared to a single-acting piston ; but when the right of recall is added, it is analogous to a double-acting machine because the officials may be recalled after they are elected if they do not prove worthy of their charge. When the four powers of the people and the five powers of the government are put into operation, there will be no fear of an all-powerful uncontrollable government, for the people will be in the position of an engineer who can control the machinery of the government at will.
The following is a diagram of the system proposed by the late Dr. Sun Yat-sen : —
POLITICAL POWER OF THE PEOPLE.
Suffrage- Recall -Initiative Referendum
ADMINISTRATIVE POWER OF THE GOVERNMENT.
Legislature — Judiciary — Executive — Civil Service — Censorship (Examinations)
When the three Western powers of the executive, legislature and judiciary are combined with the Chinese powers of censorship and examination, and when the four powers of suffrage, recall, initiative and referendum are enjoyed by the people, then the Chinese Republic may really be called a government of the people, by the people, and for the people.
LIVELIHOOD FOR THE PEOPLE〈民生主義〉
The Min Sheng Chu I or the Principle of the People's Livehhood as enunciated by the late Dr. Sun Yat-sen is a scientific attempt to enable the people of China to elevate their standards of living so that they may be better fed and better clothed.
The policy of the Kuomintang is to limit the power of capitalism and prevent the monopoly of land and capital, by a few individuals ; and Dr. Sun proposed that enterprises which are monopolistic in character, such as banks and. railways, should be regulated by the State. Government, control is nothing new in the West because Germany, Great Britain, the United States, Canada and Other Countries have experienced state control of Communications and other large enterprises. The principle of nationalization, was interpreted by the First Kuomintang National Congress as follows: "By equalization of the right to hold land is meant the abolition of monopoly of land by a few, and by regulation of capital is the taking over by the state of- such monopolies as the banking and shipping industries. "
The greater part of the misfortunes of Europe and America arise from a disproportionate distribution of wealth and products of industry. But the capitalists in China are poor in comparison with the foreign capitalists, so everyone is comparatively poor and extreme poverty exists among the masses. The absence of large capitalists does not mean that a method for equalizing the distribution of wealth should not be found, but in direct contrast to the forcible revolutionary methods of Soviet Russia, Dr. Sun proposes to solve the problem by evolutionary methods. These methods are : — social and economic reform, nationalization of transportation and communications, direct taxation on incomes, and socialized distribution through co-operative-societies.
As the greater part of China's population is agricultural, the land question is very important. In England the feudal system of land-holding has survived up till the present day, and in the United States all the land is private property, but in China the distribution of land partially conforms to the principle of proportionalization. Dr. Sun, however, has evolved a plan which will provide against future evils, and he called attention to the fact that : "In China up till this day the so-called three-grade system of collection of land taxes has been preserved, but, owing to the slow development of transport and industry, land values were not so high in the past as they were to-day. Well-developed means of communication and industry have led, owing to the maintenance of the old system, to an extremely unequal rise in the value of the land we must collect one per cent of the value of the land. For example, if a given piece of land is worth $2,000, its owner pays $20." The fear that the landowner will attempt to cheat the government was dispelled by Dr. Sun, who declared that "if the landowner makes a low assessment he will be afraid that the government will buy back his land at that value and make him lose his property ; if he makes too high an assessment he will be afraid of losing money through the government taxing him according to this value. -Comparing these two serious possibilities, he will not want to report the value of his land too high or too low, and will report the true value to the government."
Another important problem is the question of food supply and distribution, for in China there is not enough food for the masses. This deplorable condition is due to the lack of scientific agricultural methods and to foreign economic imperialism. The seven methods of increasing food production may be summarized as follows: (a) utilization of agricultural machinery, (b) the use of fertilizers, (c) rotation of crops, (d) eradication of pests, (e) manufacture of food products, (f) improvement of transportation facilities, and (g) prevention of natural disasters through river conservancv and reforestation.
PRINCIPLE OF LIVELIHOOD〈民生哲學〉
The people must be well-clothed as well as being well-fed. At a time when the West was still in a primitive stage, China had exported large quantities of silk abroad. But to-day Chinese silk is gradually being driven from the world market and it is imperative that she must improve the silkworm eggs and mulberry leaves and utilize the latest scientific methods of manufacturing. As the majority of the people wear clothing made of cotton it is necessary to make a scientific study of the cultivation of hemp and the production of fine linen thread by machinery.
In order to fully carry out the Principle of Livelihood it is necessary to eliminate foreign economic oppression by abolishing the unequal treaties which have prevented her from making that advancement which is desired by all well-wisher-s of China. Railways, canals, motor roads and other means of communication must be developed to allow people and merchandise to travel quickly and freely throughout the country. The vast spaces of Mongolia, Tibet and Sinkiang must be irrigated and immigration encouraged into those regions. The tremendous wealth lying underground in the form of minerals should be tapped to supply the needs of the nation. Every encouragement should be given to allow factories and manufacturing plants of all descriptions to spring up so that commercially and industrially China may rank with any other Power. When all the projects as planned by the late Dr. Sun in his "Outline of Reconstruction" and the "Programme of National Reconstruction" are carried out, the people of China will be better fed, better clothed, and will be able to enjoy many of the things which are now regarded as luxuries.
