Sun Yat-sen’s English writing and revolutionary image after his kidnapping and imprisonment in London

Abstract

ABSTRACT English writing was an important medium for Sun Yat-sen to promote his revolutionary ideas and seek foreign support. In 1896, Sun’s kidnapping and imprisonment in London caught great public attention. Being slandered and misunderstood on his desertion from the Guangzhou Uprising and his unpermitted entry into the Legation, Sun wrote in English Kidnapped in London, “China’s Present and Future,” and “Judicial Reform in China” in collaboration with his friends James Cantlie and Edwin Collins after his release from the Legation. In these works, Sun recorded the cause and effect of the Guangzhou Uprising, exposed the corruption of the rule and the darkness of justice in the Qing court, and expounded his revolutionary ideal of learning from the West and reforming China. The publication and dissemination of these works changed Westerners’ attitudes towards Sun: they saw him as a revolutionary with Western cultural background and political consciousness rather than a common rebel and political offender. The English writing of Sun’s thoughts dictated by himself and written by someone else not only constituted personal characteristics of his revolutionary career but also reflected the connection and interaction between Chinese and foreign politics in the era of globalization.